


Husband Material

by VincentMeoblinn



Series: Freddy [2]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Anal, Blood and Gore, Bondage, Chastity Device, Crossdressing, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Forced Feminization, Forced Orgasm, Forced Relationship, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Murder, Oral, Other, Sexual Abuse, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-03-31
Packaged: 2018-03-13 07:17:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 14
Words: 30,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3372611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VincentMeoblinn/pseuds/VincentMeoblinn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to A Year of Madness</p><p>Reid and Hotch are settling slowly into their new relationship, negotiating his return to the BAU with Strauss. Things seem to be going well until they find the dump site for Alfred O'Malley's 'wives' and a certain body is missing... </p><p>Will contain flashbacks of Reid's capture as 'Willow'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not all of the story is Explicit (heavily triggery). Chapters will be labeled so you can skip them if needed, including times that they occur mid-chapter. Just watch for bold print.

**chapter warning: emotional manipulation, non-consensual sex, murder, blood and gore.**

 

Freddy shivered in fear. He wasn’t sure when things had started to change, but they inevitably had. First he’d started noticing bruises on Willow that he _hadn’t_ put there. He’d assumed his concubines had been using him when he wasn’t around. That led to some rage. He questioned them, demanded to know who had found a way out of their chastity device or stolen his keys. They all denied it, even Willow. He’d been so enraged he’d gone at them all at once instead of using his usual tactic of focusing all their rage on one at a time. It had backfired horribly. They’d teamed up on him and he’d suddenly found himself at _their_ mercy. They couldn’t rape him because they were all locked up, but they did pin him down and shove a toy into him over and again until he broke down and wept. He crawled away from them after they had snapped back into reality and retreated, horrified at what they’d just done. He was bleeding and in agony. A quick trip to a free clinic got him the care he needed, but he had lost control of his harem. It was only a matter of time before they realized they could overpower him in more than a sexual way. They’d come at him. He had only one choice.

Freddy walked into his home in Utah as if he owned it… which he technically didn’t since it was an abandoned home he’d just taken over. His harem stared at him anxiously, waiting for their punishment. He picked his least favourite.

“Tanya,” He smirked, “Come with me, darling. I think you need a bit of release.”

Tanya’s face lit up. She was rarely taken out of her chastity belt and pleasured, her sissy clit constantly leaking cum all over the inside of the plastic casing she wore 24/7 since she was denied natural emissions. He took her downstairs into his dungeon in the basement and made a sweet show of it. He stuffed her full of Viagra and stroked himself while he hardened. She blushed and squirmed as her sissy clit swelled up to a little half-erection. With all the hormones she was on that’s the best he would get out of her. He was fine with it. He gave her tits some attention, lathing them with his tongue and flicking the piercings, before sliding down and sucking her sissy clit until she spilled herself with a scream of pure bliss. He was rarely so tender, but he figured she should enjoy her last moments alive. Then he slicked himself up, pulled the plug from her arse, and fucked her slowly while gently stroking her cheek. She wept at his tenderness. She whispered that she loved him over and again. He kissed those rough-lined lips and came deep inside her man pussy with a moan of relief.

When he pulled out he watched his cum leak out of her with a sneer before standing up and crossing to his toy chest. She lay still on the floor, her fat torso heaving as she panted and smiled in sexed out bliss. He unlocked the toy chest and selected his sharpest knife. He usually only used razors on his wives, figuring that they were easier to control, but he had this knife in place to scare them and he kept it sharp in case he had to dispose of one or any of the female sluts they kidnapped and played with together. Now he would use it to ‘divorce’ the lowest wife on the totem pole.

“Goodbye, Tanya,” He smirked.

“No, wait! Darling, please!” Tanya’s hands flew up, but he easily restrained them and slit her throat, laughing as her blood splashed on him like hot cum. Her final release.

He went upstairs with her blood still drenching his body and grinned at the sight of his harem pulling back in fear. One of them was sick into the kitchen sink.

“Shhh,” He soothed, “Come here, Willow.”

“I…” Willow approached slowly, her hazel eyes wide with fear, but never rising above his chest, “I love you, Freddy. I’d never cheat on you. Never. You said I couldn’t come without you and I haven’t. I swear I haven’t. _You_ made the bruises. You did.”

“I know it was Tanya,” Freddy stated, “She disguised herself as me. You didn’t know. I forgive you.”

Relief. So much relief on all their faces. He pulled Willow in close and kissed her slowly and deeply, intentionally smearing Tanya’s blood through her hair. Then he released her and glared up at the others.

“Willow is _mine_ ,” He growled, “I let you lot play with each other because I’m _kind_ , and don’t you forget it. If I find out that any of you are touching him without my permission again I’ll do worse than kill you. Now go downstairs and collect Tanya. Eureka, you drive her out to the park and bury her. Remember to go _far_ beneath the sandbox or some kids will dig her up.”

They obeyed. They were too afraid not to. He’d never killed one of _them_ before. Not since one of them defied their ‘true gender’. Then after that Willow had insisted on male pronouns, but he’d let him use them. Even been proud. His actions were confusing to them, but they did everything they could to obey him. They always would. Until they died. One by one. At his hands. Because he owned them. Forever.


	2. Chapter 2

**No explicit chapter warnings.**

Strauss stepped into the parking garage and sighed. She’d known this would happen, it was only a matter of time. Every morning and night she checked on Hotch’s car to make sure Reid hadn’t deverted back to his old behaviour and started harassing the poor man, and here he was _in_ the passenger seat of Hotch’s car. It had only been a week and a half! She’d warned the director that Reid was too mentally unstable to have back in the FBI but the stubborn man thought he knew best. And was he _crying_? Yes, he was. One hand thrown over his mouth as he sobbed in the car of the man he’d abducted and raped just a few months ago. Hotch would have a meltdown if he saw this. She’d end up with two agents out on leave again.

The elevator for the parking garage pinged and Morgan stepped out behind her. He quickly took in what she’d seen and swore under his breath.

“I’ll handle it, Agent Morgan,” She sighed, pulling out her phone, “I know he’s your friend. You know, he almost looks innocent sitting there crying like that. It’s hard to see him as the bad guy in all this, but breaking into Hotchner’s car and…”

“I don’t think he’s crying,” Morgan stated, his tone amused.

Sure enough Reid’s head fell back against the headrest and someone elses head lifted up out of his lap. Strauss stared in shock as the two men kissed heatedly before Hotchner shifted and Reid’s head vanished from view. Then Hotchner spotted them and _grinned and waved_.

“That _bastard_!” She gaped.

“Look, they’re grown men. They love each other. It’s weird, but it’s not our business,” Morgan headed for his own car at a casual pace, humming some club song and giving Hotch a wave. The man didn’t respond. He was watching the head that was likely bobbing up and down in his lap just out of Strauss’ view. Well, if he wanted to fraternize with his abuser than let him! She was done covering for them both!

Strauss stormed off to her car and started the engine, peeling out and leaving the two men to their PDA.

XXX

Hotch zipped up his fly and smiled at Reid, “Strauss saw us.”

“What?!” Reid looked panicked, “Where is she? What do we do?”

“Deal with it,” Hotch replied, “You knew the risks when you sat yourself down in my car _again_. I told you she watches it.”

“I was out of sight until you told me you wanted to suck my cock!” Reid argued.

“Either way, it’s not like you couldn’t have met me at home.”

Reid didn’t argue. Most likely he had been wanting this outcome for a while. He hated sneaking around with Hotch and acting as if he’d done something shameful at the start of their relationship. Although, to be fair a tactical force team _had_ had to be called in on their first ‘date’. Now they’d officially been caught fraternising it was just a matter of time before they were both pulled aside and given ultimatums. They had their responses ready. Reid was about to be forced to leave Quantico anyway, so it was time to act. Most likely he had rationalized this as the easiest way to go about it. He wouldn’t have to start the conversation if they came to _them_ instead.

Hotch didn’t argue with him. There was no point. Arguing with Reid was like arguing with a brick wall, unless you managed to find a factual jackhammer that he wasn’t aware of- nearly impossible- he was going to crush you under the weight of his intellect. Hotch sometimes felt bad for Alfred O’Malley. The sick bastard had no idea what he’d come across when he abducted their golden boy.

“Hey, Spence,” Hotch wondered as they drove along, “Can I ask you some stuff about… him?”

“Sure,” Reid replied, “He’s right in the back seat. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

Hotch flinched. He kept forgetting that Reid still hallucinated from time to time. His medication had made him functional, and he was aware that ‘Freddy’ wasn’t real. He’d even made a joke about a movie called _Drop Dead Fred_ that he watched when he was pissed off at his incarnation of his abductor/rapist/ex-husband. He’d watched an edited-for-tv version with Jack at one point and they’d laughed for hours, but Hotch had been alarmed that Jack had immediately invented an imaginary friend named Fred. Reid had spent an hour calming him down by explaining over and again that Fred and Freddy were two different things and reminding Hotch that children often had imaginary friends. Hotch knew that, of course, but it didn’t make it any easier. The next day Jack had re-named his imaginary friend Josh, seemingly without any prompting.

“Okay so… I was just wondering. We were going over his online blog and…”

“He had a blog?” Reid asked, looking over in surprise.

“Well, yeah,” Hotch replied, “You updated it for him once.”

“No I didn’t,” Reid replied.

“Yes,” Hotch argued, “Yes you did. He was dead at the time. You were in the hospital and you updated it from one of their computers.”

“Even assuming that I knew or could guess his password, all the computers at a hospital are protected due to patient confidentiality. A nurse or doctor would have had to make a grievous error for me to get access and then I’d have likely been spotted since my skills with a computer are embarrassingly low and it would have taken ages for me to type up an entry. Was the message long?”

“I think it was,” Hotch replied, racking his memory for the blog post that had happened right after Reid had escaped the hospital, “But Reid, he was dead.”

Reid was silent a moment, “They never found the body. Just blood. He was incredibly intelligent; it wouldn’t shock me if he staged his death. Why do you think I’m always stressed about him not having been found?”

Reid was staring into the rear view mirror, his eyes tracking something only he could see, and he gave it a frown and a subtle headshake. Hotch felt his skin crawl and glanced over his shoulder instinctively. Reid snickered. Hotch smiled in embarrassment. He knew he was being ridiculous.

“Okay, you got me that time,” Hotch chuckled.

“Sorry, it’s hard to resist,” Reid grinned.

“Well, my question was ‘how did you freak him out’ but I suppose that was answer enough.”

“I freaked him out?” Reid frowned, “Huh. I didn’t know. He didn’t elaborate in the blog?”

“He said you were hallucinating him and mentioned having one of his concubines steal some anti-psychotic medication next time they were in the hospital. It was around the same time that we believe he killed the first concubine, but because that happened in another state it’s hard to figure it out. We never even found his hide-out after San Diego and I understand that questioning you didn’t help much.”

“Somewhere in Utah was the best I could do. They didn’t want to trigger me by taking me there and driving me around. Besides, it’s a big state. He documented murdering someone on a blog and no one caught it?” Reid asked in alarm.

“He put it down as ‘divorce’,” Hotch replied, “The name he gave was Tanya. By process of elimination we believe that was William Tates.”

“Tanya…” Reid murmured, “Tanya was the lowest on the wife hierarchy. She was flatulent and kept stealing other people’s food. We all hated her. When she died we were kind of relieved, but also intimidated. He used it to keep us under control after this one time when we ganged up on him. I did some… some shocking things that day.”

“Like what?”

“Don’t want to talk about it,” Reid stated, shutting him down.

“Okay. No problem,” Hotch nodded.

“Do you think I’ll freak _you_ out someday?” Reid worried.

“Depends,” Hotch teased, “Are you planning anything in particular?”

“Hmm, maybe,” Reid smirked, “Right now I’m thinking about handcuffs and spankings.”

“Mmm, whose getting spanked and handcuffed tonight?”

“I’m thinking me,” Reid shifted in his seat, giving Hotch a heated look, “I’ve been _naughty_.”

“Mm,” Hotch purred, “I love it when you’re naughty.”

Their hands met in the middle of the consol, Hotch’s fingers running teasingly over his knuckles in promise of intimacy to come. They played rough from time to time but Hotch was always his caretaker, his lover, and his friend. They were equals in bed. They drove on in silence for a while and when Reid looked in the back and hissed for his imaginary monster to shut up Hotch was careful not to respond.

XXX

It had taken threats, insinuations, and them walking out for two days before they were called into the directors office and given the go ahead for a trial run. Reid could return to the BAU, but because of their relationship Hotch would be removed as Unit Chief and Morgan would step up. Hotch was fine with that, especially since he knew Morgan would work _with_ him. Perhaps it was time for someone younger to lead… for a while.

Reid walked in happy and excited to return to work. It would be the second in weeks that he was in the same area with the entire team, though some had visited and spoken with him since he’d returned. They were all aware of the very gory and personal details of the start of their relationship, but Hotch was determined that he wouldn’t let the fact his privacy had been shred and run through a court system distress him.

Hotch stepped into the room and sat himself down at Morgan’s desk while Morgan stood uncomfortably in Hotch’s office. He gave him glance and they both silently agreed that this was bullshit. Hotch’s mouth quirked and he turned to glance across at Reid where he was busily fixing his lipstick. He played with it when he was nervous. It rarely needed retouching.

Hotch smiled at him, “Relax. You’ve done this before.”

“Yeah, but I hadn’t just been released from a mental institute and I’d been wearing pants.”

“You can wear pants,” Hotch shrugged, “I liked your pants.”

“I will for take downs, but for now I’m not cleared for them so… frills,” Reid shrugged while waving his hand in a limp wristed movement, “I like feeling pretty.”

“Oh! You’re back!” Garcia squealed, hurrying into the room, “I require hugs and more hugs! Get over here pretty boy, you first!”

Reid stood up and held out his arms and Garcia squeezed him tightly and lifted him off the floor a bit, much to Reid’s amusement.

“Hey,” Hotch frowned, “How did you know she wasn’t talking to me when she said ‘pretty boy’?”

“Because you are and always will be Chief Almighty Grand Pooh-bah to me,” Garcia replied, hurrying over to him and doing a curtsey, “May the lowly techie request a hug from the Great Genius-Saver?”

“Of course,” Hotch chuckled, standing and giving her a one armed hug in return to her snuggle, “But I’ve been here the whole time, you know.”

“Yeah, but you weren’t yourself,” She replied, stepping back and giving him a frustrated look, “And now you are.”

“Are you _sure_ you don’t want to take lessons in profiling?” Hotch asked.

“I don’t need them,” Garcia stated firmly, “I speak fluent gossip.”

Then she turned sharply on her heal and returned to her domain with the saunter of a queen.

“I will never get used to her,” Hotch grinned, “And I’m glad for that.”

“Me too,” Reid smiled, flopping back down in his seat and pulling out a book.

Reid was well engrossed in his book when JJ came out of her office with a frantic look on her face, “We have a case. And a second case, sort of. Reid, you may need to sit the second one out.”

Reid frowned, “Maybe you could let _me_ make that call?”

“We’re being called in on a missing persons case in Utah, but that’s not why I’m concerned,” JJ stated while heading for the conference room, “While they were looking for her they found O’Malley’s graveyard. He actually drove _all_ the bodies from San Diego back to Utah to dispose of them all in the same spot he’d stashed other bodies at. A cadaver dog found them yesterday while looking for a different missing person. Now we have a current missing person and the burden of identifying several bodies, some of which we never knew about.”

Hotch and the rest followed JJ into the conference room where she was clicking on a slide for them. They found their seats and Hotch spoke up after glancing carefully at Reid to ascertain his thoughts.

“Is the current missing person related to the second case?” Hotch asked, “What were the abduction details?”

JJ looked confused, but it was Morgan who answered, “Why would they be? O’Malley is dead.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Hotch replied, “If he was driving the corpses all the way to Utah then what were the body parts that Reid’s final captive took out?”

“O’Malley,” Morgan argued, “That was O’Malley.”

“Reid doesn’t remember killing him,” Hotch pointed out, “He also swears he didn’t make the final blog post from the hospital. There may be victims we’re not aware of. Ones even Reid doesn’t know about.”

There was a moment of silence and then Morgan’s eyes slid over to Reid, “We all know that a traumatic situation can be blocked out. Reid was never charged _because_ there’s no body and he was a victim as well, but if we find O’Malley’s corpse we’re looking at a full investigation. Things… may come out that neither of you want to face. Are you prepared for that?”

“At this point we’re not even aware if he’s dead or not,” Reid replied, “Personally, I want to know. If I have to face jail time for it I’ll accept that situation, but if we’ve got a rapist and killer on the loose then we absolutely have to stop him. We owe it to the other victims. To me.”

 


	3. Chapter 3

Reid whimpered from where he lay curled up on the jets sofa. His head was in Hotch’s lap but a glance around had shown that no one was bothered so he hadn’t pushed him away, but now that he was having one of his nightmares Hotch was worried. Reid sometimes woke up sobbing, shaking, and inconsolable. He’d had to shove him into the shower once and run water over him because he kept screaming that he was filthy.

“Spence,” Hotch whispered, trying to wake him up gently, “Spencer, sweetie, wake up. We’re on the jet, you’re with me and Morgan, JJ, Prentiss…”

Reid woke with a hiss through his teeth and flailed a bit, but when Hotch sat him up gently he seemed to calm quickly.

“How long was I asleep?”

“Just a few minutes,” Hotch replied.

“Did I doze off during something important?”

“No,” Hotch replied.

The flight to Utah was a short one, but they’d quickly devolved into arguments about Reid’s abductor and Hotch had called a halt to preserve their team. He told them all that they would assume nothing until they got a look at the situation on the ground. Reid had promptly dropped off to sleep and Hotch had lost himself in watching his beautiful lover when he wasn’t worrying about the team seeing them in such an intimate position.

Reid stretched and Hotch admired his figure… then tugged his skirt down to cover his knees. Reid snickered at him and Hotch smothered a smile. JJ and Prentiss exchanged giddy smiles while Morgan looked on with a fond grin.

Reid shifted over to talk to him, sitting opposite and asking him to play a game of cards with him. Morgan nodded and pulled off his headphones.

“You know,” Morgan sighed, “I’m happy for you two.”

“But?” Reid asked.

“But you’re like my little brother and I’m having trouble rationalizing my urge to kick my bosses ass every time a scared sound escapes your mouth.”

“Aaron didn’t put that there,” Reid pointed out, “ _He_ did.”

“You really still see him?”

“Sometimes,” Reid replied, “Usually when I’m alone. Aaron tries not to leave me alone much.”

“What about around Jack?” Morgan worried.

“No, Freddy doesn’t like kids.”

Morgan frowned and paused in dealing the cards, “Freddy wouldn’t… hurt Jack?”

“I doubt he’d pay him any mind,” Reid shrugged, “He wasn’t interested in them one way or the other. Some kids came by selling cookies once and he refused to buy them but didn’t hurt or scare them, he just told them to cross our address off their list. Said he hated soliciting. He even smiled when they left and said they were adorable, but he couldn’t have them blow our cover.”

Morgan leaned forward, eyebrows furrowed, “Did you see the list they were carrying?”

Reid glanced up for a moment in confusion and then his eyes widened. Morgan saw his pupils dilate.

“Hotch! Get over here!”

Reid’s hands flew over his head and he started to scream. Hotch pulled him out of his seat and into the isle, holding him tightly and rocking him. It took a record time  of only five minutes for Reid to calm down and then he whispered an address into Hotch’s ear. Hotch nodded and asked for something to write it on while still holding Reid and pressing kisses to his forehead.

“I’m sorry,” Morgan worried, “I wasn’t even _trying_ to jog his memory, it was just habit from dealing with victims and…”

“It’s fine,” Hotch replied, pulling Reid up and laying him back down on the couch. He covered him with his jacket, “Good work Morgan. You too Spence. Just rest, honey. Okay?”

Reid nodded miserably and curled up into a tight ball with his arms over his face. Morgan felt sick, but Hotch was busy contacting Garcia and telling her the address Reid had just shared with him.

XXX

“Okay,” Alfred turned to his wives, “You know the drill, drop a body, change address. Line up in order of esteem and we’ll get you ladies saddled and harnessed up.”

It was a joke, but it was also deadly serious so they hurried to obey. Willow was in the front as the ‘first’ wife, with Ginny behind him and Nina behind her. Ginny and Nina were sweet girls and Willow loved them, but he was also eager to protect himself and that often meant someone else took a beating that he had avoided. Ginny put her hands on Willow’s hips and though he didn’t look he knew Nina had done the same to Ginny. Eyes front. Always eyes front.

Alfred approached them with gag bits, bridles, and blinders, and lengths of black ribbon, lashing each into one before slowly tying them to slightly flexible plastic rods and then each other. The rods were lashed to their arms and the hips of the person in front of them. Only Willow would have his hands free, but all he could do for the others would be to hold on because the rods wouldn’t let him turn around and help them if they fell. Once Alfred had them all where he wanted them he approached with plugged tails and worked them into each of their asses. It was only to fuck with them. They’d be horribly uncomfortable for the entire, bouncy trip, and they had their chastity belts off for this reason. They’d be able to become erect but not to satisfy themselves. Only Willow could reach his bits, but he couldn’t do anything about it because he had to hang on for dear life. Hopefully the female hormones coursing through their bodies would leave Nina and Ginny limp.

They were led out, naked except for their bindings, to the truck with its hitch pulled up close to the sleek silver horse trailer. They had to attach the horse trailer, which they did with Willow making clicking noises- two for left, one for right- until they entire thing was done. Every time he had to bend forward it put a strain on the bodies of his fellow wives, but the task had to be completed. Alfred wouldn’t help. He just watched and laughed at them.

Willow was led around to the back of the trailer and then coaxed inside despite the fact his skin was crawling. He hated the trailer. It was lined with hay and had a rod to grip at the front, but otherwise it was just a big, hot tin can. The windows at the top were too far up for them to look out of and gave little breeze. In the winter they just shook with cold and hoped the sun was out enough that they didn’t freeze their important parts off. Important meant fingers. Their dicks belonged to Alfred and their toes were insignificant since they all knew they were never going to run away. He had them right where he wanted them.

This was spring, so the journey wouldn’t be horrible. Just unpleasant. They stood in the trailer for hours on end, jostled by bumps and nearly knocked over by turns. Reid had no female hormones in him so the plug in his arse left him moaning in equal parts agony and pleasure, but he wasn’t able to achieve release due to the chastity device on his cock. He would swell to the confines of his plastic casing and then his cock would ache as the casing kept it from straightening out or thickening further. Once the pain would leave him screaming and sobbing, but now he was so used to it that he simply hissed in discomfort and slowly counted until his cock deflated. Twelve seconds. It used to take him longer, the adrenalin from the pain causing him to thicken and soften over and again until he managed to control it. He was pretty good at ignoring arousal and diverting blood flow now.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N Because of my inability to geography in any way, shape, or form I have put down Ohio as the place they were hiding out in. It was meant to be Utah due to both distance and other reasons that will soon become obvious. So I had to go back and fix it. I offer you my humblest of apologies._

 

The group split in half, one to cover the old case and one to cover the new. Hotch, Reid, and JJ were going over the graveyard beneath the sand box while Morgan, Rossi, and Prentiss started a search for the missing woman. Since Alfred had abducted women for them to rape it was possible that they were working the same case, but until they were certain of that they were going to treat it like a separate one.

“There was this famous place,” Reid frowned, “The girls were freaking out about it. It had been in a movie or something.”

“I’ll have Garcia compile a list of places that have appeared in movies.”

“They kept singing, so I think it was a musical,” Reid replied, “I’m sorry, I feel like I’ve got these huge gaps in my memory. Maybe they were just annoying me so I ignored them or something.”

“We could try hypnotism,” Hotch suggested, “It might bring more out.”

“Maybe,” Reid replied, “I’m worried about the effects on my mind since my psychotic break.”

JJ’s eyebrows furrowed and she fought down a smile, shaking her head in amusement, “You’re so casual about that.”

“I don’t have time to panic,” Reid replied, “We had neighbours and they saw us fairly often. I can’t imagine they didn’t realize we were all in some sort of relationship.”

“You were allowed out?” Hotch frowned.

“Only once we were broken,” Reid replied, “It took me much less time than I’d expected originally. It didn’t help that I was treated differently than the others. He singled me out because I was his favourite. I got raped more than the others.”

Reid stood up from where he’d been studying the bodies laid out in body bags beside the sandbox.

“That’s Nina, that’s Ginny, and that’s either Francis or Lakisha. The last two weren’t around long. He seemed to favour Caucasian brides but kept snatching African-American ones as if he were trying to force it on himself. He always lost patience with them sooner and got rid of them, but we thought he was leaving them on the side of the road naked like before. I had no idea these three were dead.”

“The blood identified in the house in San Diego belonged to,” JJ flicked her finger over her tablet, “Arthur, George, and Sam.”

“Can I see their pictures?” Reid asked, “Those names mean nothing to me.”

JJ hesitated, but at a nod from Hotch she handed it over. He glanced at the pictures from their families and handed them back.

“Anna, Sasha, and Samantha,” Reid replied, “I didn’t know Anna had kids.”

“So these _aren’t_ the bodies from the house,” Hotch sighed, “There _were_ more than we knew about.”

“One problem,” Reid frowned, and pointed to a fourth body, “That one there? I don’t know who that is, and she’s more recent. What made people think this was Freddy’s dump site if they hadn’t confirmed the bodies yet?”

Hotch motioned for an officer who headed over and handed him a bagged item. It looked like a necklase and as Reid watched he manipulated it through the bag until the locket on it sprung open. He handed it to Reid who stared down at his own likeness and Alfred O’malley’s picture.

“He really loved me.”

“No, Spencer. He didn’t,” Hotch stated firmly, “ _I_ love you. This was _wrong_.”

Reid shook his head, “You don’t understand.”

“He was going to _kill_ you.”

“Spouses snap and kill each other all the time,” Reid replied, looking up at Hotch, “Just because that happens, just because the relationship was unhealthy, does that make their affection less real?”

Hotch looked away a moment, and then glanced back, “I don’t know what to think. I guess I really don’t understand.”

Reid glanced down at the necklace and then handed it back to the officer, “When the investigation is over I’d like to claim that. Can you make an note?”

“Um, sure ma’am,” The man replied awkwardly. Reid didn’t correct his term and Hotch waited until he walked away before turning to him again.

“Is that really what you want?” Hotch asked, alarmed at how jealous he felt of a rapist.

“I know our relationship was unhealthy-“

“It was _rape_ , Spencer,” JJ interrupted.

“-It was my life for a year. You don’t just bury that or erase it. I need to make peace with it. They need to keep digging. I’m positive more are buried here. Tanya, for starters.”

They headed back to the station and when they walked in the doors a police officer did a double take and then headed to Reid with a furious look on his face. The three paused in surprise, but when Hotch tried to introduce them the officer shoved past him and grabbed Reid’s wrist, slapping a handcuff on one wrist and jerking Reid around.

“Willow O’Malley, you’re under arrest.”

“Now just a second,” Hotch started, but Reid’s reaction was already in motion and there was no stopping it.

Reid’s eyes rolled up in his head and he simply went limp, JJ barely stopping him from cracking his head on the floor. Reid lay limp, his eyes fluttering but his respiration even while Hotch knelt by his side and checked his pulse.

“Spencer? Spence? It’s Aaron, talk to me, sweetie. It’s okay. Officer, get these cuffs off of him. Now.”

“She’s a criminal! I’ve got a warrant out for her!”

“He’s a _victim!_ ” Hotch shouted, pulling out his badge, “Now get these cuffs off of my boyfriend _right now!_ ”

The officer scrambled to remove the cuffs and once they were off Hotch pulled Reid up into a bridal carry and headed straight back out the door.

“Hotch!” JJ called, “Hotch, where are you going?”

“Home!” Hotch shouted, “Call the team back in!”

A detective was running after them, his eyes wide with the alarmed officer who had tried to arrest Reid right behind them.

“Agent Hotchner!” The detective shouted, “Agent Hotchner, please wait!”

Morgan, Prentiss, and Rossi were just pulling up and when they saw him shoving Reid into the passenger seat with murder in his eyes they cut off the detective heading towards Hotchner.

“You mind telling me what’s going on?” Morgan asked the man.

“My officer made a mistake,” The detective stated, “He thought that was someone else. It was just a mistake. He looks _just_ like Willow O’Malley and we’ve got an outstanding warrant for her.”

“He _was_ Willow O’Malley,” Morgan stated, “When Alfred O’Malley abducted and tortured him for a year. Let me calm my Unit Chief down.”

Morgan headed over to where Hotch had buckled Reid into the seat and was carefully smoothing his hair and talking to him softly.

“Come back to me, Spencer. Come on, sweetheart.”

“He okay?” Morgan asked.

“He’s not responsive. I don’t want to take him to a hospital but we may have to.”

“Let me try,” Morgan asked, not that Reid was limp, his eyes open but vacant and still.

“I’ve got this,” Hotch replied, leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to his brow.

Morgan winced, “Hotch, no offense man, but I’m the only one here who knows what’s going through his head right now.”

Hotch paused, dropped his head down, then turned sharply away and walked a few paces with his hands on top of his head. He was taking steadying breaths as Morgan walked up the car and simply shut the car door. Hotch spun around.

“What are you doing?”

“He needs space and to feel safe right now,” Morgan stated, “You want to keep invading his bubble so he sinks deeper into this dissociative state you go right ahead.”

“This makes no sense,” Hotch stepped forward and lowered his voice, “I’ve put him in cuffs before. I’ve even called him Willow before.”

“At the same time?” Morgan asked.

“No,” Hotch replied, “I never directed that name towards him again after he told me he preferred Spencer.”

“And that was a stranger,” Morgan nodded towards the officer speaking with Prentiss and JJ, “Or perhaps someone he saw during his capture.”

Hotch glanced towards the car, “I really can’t be in there with him?”

“Reid’s strong. He doesn’t snap out of it in an hour I’m suggesting a hospital.”

“I’ve always been able to comfort him before,” Hotch replied.

“Understandable,” Morgan nodded, “But this isn’t about your relationship with him. He’s going through something still. It’s really not been that long and he’s going to take _years_ reach a point where certain things don’t set him off. I’m sure next time you’ll be just what he needs.”

“Thanks,” Hotch sighed, “I’m having more trouble being objective than I thought I would.”

“Also understandable,” Morgan nodded.

“Maybe we _shouldn’t_ work together anymore.”

“I’m more worried about him carrying a gun and being in dangerous situations at this point, which means I’d _rather_ he had you backing him up.”

JJ headed over to them, “Safe to approach?”

“If you’re asking if I’ll fire you for making eye contact, the answer is no,” Hotch replied, completely deadpan, “Come on over.”

“You really set on leaving? Because I’ll make excuses but they’ll be hard to pull off,” JJ replied.

“What were they telling you?” Hotch asked with a sigh.

“That the officer who tried to cuff Reid had been working the case about some missing women in another county. His partner vanished during the case and hasn’t shown up since. I’m wondering if one of the bodies we found today will match up to his dental records. Reid was admitted to the hospital shortly after his partner went missing under the name Willow O’Malley. Of course he went through his routine of getting treatment for all the abuse they put him through and then made off with medication, but here’s the thing: while he was in there Reid tried to ask for help.”

“When was this?”

“Only about three months after he vanished,” JJ replied.

“So he wasn’t completely broken yet,” Morgan nodded, “What exactly did he say?”

“He said if he went back to his husband that the man would force him to rape someone and then went on to say that person was a police officer. The nurse ran off to get victim services again and called the police, but by the time she came back Reid had taken off.”

“So the officer saw Reid, recognized him from video footage, and figured he was going to arrest his partners rapist,” Hotch sighed, “I’m having a lot of trouble being angry at that, but Reid’s told me he never raped anyone. Apparently Freddy was insecure about Reid identifying as male so he wouldn’t let him top anyone. Reid spent the entire year in a chastity device.”

“Damn,” Morgan shook his head, “I can’t figure out if that’s a blessing or a curse. I mean, at least he never has to deal with the whole ‘unwanted orgasm’ thing…”

“Not exactly,” Hotch sighed, “It didn’t stop him from feeling pleasure, it just made him experience pain _with_ his pleasure. No orgasm, but then again he could never… you know what? You don’t want to know. I’m already trying to scrub my brain of those images as it is.”

“So he _has_ been sharing this stuff with you?” Morgan frowned, “He made it sound as if he didn’t remember much.”

“Yeah, same here,” JJ nodded.

“He doesn’t want to acknowledge it,” Hotch replied, “But I’ve found he’ll give up a little at a time. The key is not to overwhelm him; a couple of casual questions and then a direct one. Then you have to stop or he’ll start seeing Freddy everywhere.”

“The thing is, if we’re going to stay and work this case we’re going to _have_ to push him the same way we would any witness,” JJ replied, her lips curled in distaste.

“I know,” Hotch replied, eyes on the car where Reid was stirring. He sat up and pulled a map out of the glove compartment, “Or… maybe we won’t have to.”

Reid slipped out of the car, his shoes in one hand and the map in the other. His eyes were lowered the way they had been before his months of therapy and medication. Hotch felt his stomach clench and hoped it was a temporary regression. Reid walked up to him and held out the map silently. Hotch accepted it and passed it immediately to Rossi so he could hold out a hand to Reid. Reid was either playing dumb or still in a daze because he handed Hotch his shoes. Hotch passed them to JJ who checked the size with an admiring glance. Hotch held his hand out to Reid again and the young man accepted his hand. Hotch pulled gently and he folded into his arms. Rossi got on the phone with Garcia and he heard him mention a few cities that Reid had apparently circled.

“They travelled around a lot,” Rossi stated, “But they had to have had a main base of operations. A central house. We thought it was isolated to avoid noticing the occupants, but Reid let slip today that there were neighbours and they saw them frequently.’

“Okay?” Hotch asked Reid, tuning Rossi out.

“Yeah,” Reid said softly.

“I’m going to need to ask you about his partner.”

“I didn’t rape him,” Reid replied, “Freddy did. So did a few others. I forget who.”

“We both know that isn’t true,” Hotch said softly, “Elephants memory.”

Reid sighed, “They’re all dead. Does it matter? Let them _be_.”

“Hotch,” Rossi stated, getting off the phone with Garcia, “We’ve got an address, and I know why the neighbours didn’t say anything about him having multiple wives. The bastard was hiding in a community made up of FLDS. He’s _using_ their beliefs to hide out, and they’d have no reason to suspect him for acting sneaky because they’re all trying to hide from the laws against bigamy!”

“As if those people don’t have a bad enough rep,” JJ sighed.

“You’re _for_ bigamy?” Prentiss asked in surprise.

“I’m not against it,” JJ shrugged, “Except for the ones you force it on children, of course. Hell, sometimes I wish I _had_ a sister wife to keep Will busy.”

“Not me,” Prentiss shook her head, “Not after the compound.”

“Those people were in a cult,” Reid reminded, peering out from Hotch’s shoulder, “It’s quite a bit different.”

“You have your opinions, I have mine,” Prentiss replied, putting her hands up.

“Yeah, but only one of us has been in a plural marriage,” Reid replied, “And talked to other wives who’ve been in one. They were happy and in love for the most part. It wasn’t like the compound. _Mine_ was, but…”

“Yours also wasn’t voluntary,” Hotch reminded him, “Or _legal_.”

“Tell that to the wedding photos.”

Hotch stiffened, “You have wedding photos? You had a wedding?”

Reid pulled away, putting his shoes back on and straightening his jacket, “What was the famous structure? I really _can’t_ remember that.”

“A mill used in the set of the movie Footloose,” Rossi replied with a grin, “Garcia’s asking if she can come up and see it.”

“No,” Hotch replied.

“There was a museum, too. I went with him there on a date but he got me incredibly drunk first so it’s a blur. I think… I think it was our anniversary?”

“That would have been around the time he was killing off concubines,” Hotch frowned.

“Yeah,” Reid nodded, “We were in San Diego and then… something…”

Reid headed for the station, his head down and his brow furrowed in deep concentration. He passed the officer and detective, ignoring their words, and went straight in without looking left or right. When the rest joined him he was already spreading out maps and muttering to himself.

“I think we should leave him here,” Morgan stated, “He has less connection here with the exception of that officer. We take him there and he’s going to flash. Now that we have a location we can contact him on occasion.”

Hotch nodded, “I think I should go with you. JJ, will you stay with him?”

“I’ll be on him like those designer shoes,” JJ nodded, and headed over to the coffee station to make Reid a cup of his favourite beverage.

“You going to be okay leaving him?” Rossi asked.

“I need to,” Hotch replied, “If we’re going to work together I have to cut the umbilical cord. He knows that.”

He left without saying goodbye, but the brief glance between them across the room spoke volumes.


	5. Chapter 5

“Turn right here,” Willow said softly.

Freddy turned and Reid spent some more time admiring the area around him. He knew where he was, which was rare, as they were usually kept ignorant as much as possible, but Reid detested the times he knew where he was. When he was handed a map and told to sit in the cab it meant one thing: time to pick up a new toy.

“Turn left here,” Willow spoke again, “Watch the speed, the police here are ruthless and there’s a trap ahead in about 3 miles.”

“If they’re ruthless what are we doing here?” Freddy grunted.

“Looking for a new toy,” Willow replied by rote.

“I _mean_ ,” Freddy growled, “Why aren’t we in a safer area? One we won’t get caught in?”

“You wanted high-risk targets to avoid detection. Prostitutes are high risk. Prostitutes are in bad areas. Police are in bad areas.”

“Numbers?”

“I calculate a 21.3% chance of us being connected to this crime if you use your typical signatures. The risk goes down to 12.5% if you deviate your signature as well as your victimology.”

 _And your risk would be lower if I weren’t here because my team is going to be looking for me and for anything that might lead to me_ , Willow thought, but he didn’t say it out loud because it would mean his death. Freddy always knew when Willow lied, but omitting facts was something he could get away with.

“And this is outside of my geographic profile?” Freddy asked after a few minutes.

“As long as you’ve been following my algorithms correctly,” Willow replied, “It would be easier if I could check your math.”

“I’m not an idiot, Willow.”

“I know,” Willow smiled softly, reaching out to take his hand, “You’re one of the smartest people I know.”

“Just not as smart as you, right?”

“Well,” Willow smirked, “No one is perfect.”

Freddy squeezed Willow’s hand and they shared an affectionate glance. It was times like this, when they felt like a couple, that Willow had the most trouble dealing with his situation. Most of the time they were friendly with each other, loving even, and Willow was treated the kindest of all of his wives, but always around the corner was the time when the video games would be dropped, the books cast aside, and the toys brought out. Freddy’s cool down period with at least three wives in the home was about a month. With less wives he would go after more people. With more wives he eventually would lose patience with them and cast one aside or kill them. In between picking up ‘toys’ there were the more literal toys that he used on the wives, the ones that littered Willow’s body with bruises and scars.

“There,” Willow said softly, pointing to three women on the side of the road in tight clothes. They were all smoking cigarettes and Willow knew that she would forever associate the smell of cigarettes with violence.

“Which one do you like?” Freddy purred, his voice gone deep and sultry. He ran his hand over Willow’s thigh and he shivered anxiously and carefully studied the three women. He pointed to one who was clearly on her last leg, strung out on either heroin or meth and unlikely to survive the winter.

“That one. She reminds me of my mother,” Willow said softly, knowing that those words had helped in the past.

“No way,” He scoffed, “I fell for that once, but never again. I want one that’s _lively_. It’s bad enough I had to go back to hunting _whores_ instead of those sweet smelling city girls, and all because of your fucking friends.”

“They’re not my friends anymore,” Willow reminded him gently, “And I’m doing my best to help you avoid capture. Honestly though, if we take the one I pointed out she’ll be less likely to be missed. The healthier ones are more likely to have friends who may go to the police.”

“Numbers,” Freddy demanded.

Willow sighed and pointed out each woman in turn, listing her risk level, “12.5, 2, and 6%.”

“Six sounds like a good compromise to me. Go get six.”

Willow slipped out of the truck once it stuttered to a halt and walked anxiously towards the women.

“Excuse me?” Willow asked shyly, “I’m… ah… that is…”

“You looking for some love, sweetheart?” 12.5% asked.

“Well… my husband…” Willow glanced over his shoulder, “I’m a bit… comely.”

“We do couples,” 12.5 smiled softly, “You want one or two?”

_I want 2%, but I have to leave with 6% and there is no way I’m taking two of you!_

“He fancies you,” Willow nodded to 6% who tossed her hair proudly and stepped forward.

“$10 for hands, $20 for mouth, $50 for front door, $75 for back door, $150 for the night,” 6% crooned as if that was the sexiest pick-up line in the world.

Willow fished in his pocket and pulled out an envelope, “I have enough for two nights and you can use our shower and such. You’re not a vegetarian are you? Freddy loves fried chicken so it’s probably for dinner tomorrow.”

“I _love_ fried chicken,” She replied, eyes lighting up.

“Great,” Willow smiled, and held out her hand as if they were old school chums.

6% smiled and took Willow’s hand, hurrying behind her on heels that could kill.

 _Maybe she’ll be smart enough to use them as a weapon_ , Willow hoped, but as they slipped into the car and Freddy began pawing at her Willow found it rather unlikely.

They drove on in silence, 6% stinking up the cab of the car between them in their ugly old pickup with its bench seat. Willow felt the usual stab of jealousy as Freddy fondled another girl, but he knew what it meant for him. It meant relief. Willow would spend the next week virtually unmolested. He might even get a chance to check into a hospital and relax for a bit, getting tested and treated for whatever needed fixing. He hadn’t had an STI in a while, but he took his health seriously so any chance he got to show up at a clinic- usually pretending to be a prostitute- he took it.

Back at their temporary home- it was always a temporary home with only a few boxes needed to take off again- Willow guided the young woman into the house and gave her the last kind look she would ever see.

“I’m so sorry about this,” Willow smiled softly.

“Sorry about what?” She asked, jerking her hand free of Willow’s grip.

Too late. Freddy hit her over the back of the head with a sock filled with an orange and she went down, dazed by the blow. That was all that was needed to take her down and Willow, Ginny, and Nina all came at her. They tugged off her clothes, arguing over who would fit into them better, and divided them up amongst themselves. All except the panties. Freddy got those. Then she was bundled, struggling weakly, into the shower where they hosed her off. Nina was a doctor so she checked her over for signs of illness and pronounced 6% possibly disease free. 6% stammered something about condoms and they all laughed a bit.

6% was dragged into the main room where a large, thick rug was laid out. She was thrown down and Willow tied her up with expert knots. Gone was the soft smile. Willow was deep inside of his own head where he could hide from what he had to do. He would occasionally offer advice to 6% (don’t struggle, try to let your mind drift away, close your eyes, it will be over soon) but otherwise he just let himself go. He was never allowed to enjoy pleasure during sex, Freddy controlled his body more intensely than the others, but he was forced to partake anyway. He pinned down 6%’s shoulders and watched with the distant stare of a trauma victim as Nina, pumped full of Viagra, fucked 6% fast and hard. Next came Ginny’s turn, and she rolled 6% over to shove her dick in 6%’s ass using only a bit of spit as lubrication and not an ounce of stretching. 6% screamed and sobbed, shaking beneath them and struggling to get free while Freddy chuckled and walked around the scene to study them. The two wives became vicious when allowed to have a bit of pleasure, and Willow often wondered if _he’d_ become that way as well if allowed to. The fact of the matter was they were only allowed release while raping someone- either Willow or one of the ‘toys’ Willow found them- so perversion had become a norm for them. Willow could vaguely remember the first time each of them had been forced to rape someone. Freddy had held a gun to their heads and there had been tears, so many tears, but those days were in the past. Now Willow’s sister-wives partook of the violent depravity with leers and eager moans.

While Willow drifted like fronds of in the wind, forever distant from the abuse. After a week of torturing 6% she died miserably in her sleep, probably from a combination of withdrawal and bloodloss. Her body was a mass of cuts, her breasts having been sawn off with a steak knife sometime during the night. Willow looked on with a vague sick feeling in his stomach, but had long learned not to vomit in order to avoid a beating. Willow helped Freddy load the corpse into the truck that night. She’d been stuffed in a trashbag and they drove her out to a copse of pine trees that heralded the entrance to a graveyard. They dug up one of the fresher graves and buried 6% under four feet of dirt, carefully avoiding cameras on their way in and out.

“You did good, Willow,” Freddy smiled softly, washing up in their mudroom, “I think you deserve a reward.”

“I can go to a clinic?” Willow asked hopefully.

“No way,” Freddy scoffed, “Who will I play with if you’re gone? Fetch the lube.”

Willow did as told, a bit relieved that lubricant would be used this time. Freddy didn’t touch their ‘toys’ anymore. He only fucked his wives, who in turn fucked Willow or the ‘toys’. He called it monogamy but the part of Willow who was still horrified by all of this knew it for what it was. Rape. Abuse. Exploitation. Willow and the ‘wives’ were at the mercy of this madman and if they did as he liked then their lives were slightly less miserable. If they disobeyed than there was a sandbox waiting for them back in Utah.

Willow bent over and sighed happily as the first thing to enter him was a plug rather than a cock. He was still stretched far faster than was comfortable, but by the time Freddy took up a fast pounding against his backside Willow was relaxed and could simply wait it out. He kept his hips up so the chastity device on his cock wouldn’t chaff his torso and simply waited. Sometimes he imagined the rocking motion was that of a boat, or even his mother’s arms. Anything to take him out of that moment and into the land of Nod. Eventually Freddy finished with a gutteral groan and Willow was left to bathe, carefully spraying water into the chastity device that almost _never_ left his body. He had to be careful or skin would grow over it. It had already had to be pried off and replaced once before, so it was important to soap it up, get soap between the device and his skin, and shift it around from time to time. It was painful, but necessary.

<http://image.dhgate.com/albu_224373437_00/1.0x0.jpg>

Finally, Willow stepped out of the shower, dried off, ran a blow-drier on cool into the grooves of his device, and headed for the bedroom.

“I’ve got some sores coming in beneath my CD,” Willow told Freddy, referring to his chastity device.

“Mm-hm,” Freddy replied, flicking through a _Psychology Today_ magazine, “Did you see this article on PTSD?”

“Yeah, it was pretty fascinating,” Willow replied, “I find it applies more to myself than Nina or Ginny.”

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” Freddy replied, then patted the bed next to himself.

Willow crawled in and cuddled up against his side, pressing a kiss to his cheek, “Do you think I’ll kill myself someday?”

“Probably,” Freddy replied, “If I don’t.”

“I kinda feel like it will be me,” Willow mused, “Where’d that medical text go? I was going to look for better solutions for the chaffing issue.”

“Here,” Freddy replied, passing him a book from his side of the mattress. They didn’t have a proper bed, just an inflatable mattress that they could easily pack up like the rest of their belongings. They constantly lived out of suitcases and boxes.

“Thanks,” Willow smiled fondly and flipped through the book, “I was thinking that removing them once a day for a more thorough-“

“No.”

“Even leaving us out for an hour-“

“No.”

“We’re yours, you know. Nothing will happen.”

“No.”

Willow sighed and Freddy walked through the door, leaving Willow to give the Freddy beside him a confused glance.

“Who the fuck were you talking to?” Freddy-in-the-doorway asked.

“I… you,” Willow stammered.

“You talking to yourself?” Freddy asked.

Willow glanced at the Freddy beside him and the one in the doorway in alarm, “There are two of you? Freddy, I’m scared.”

“Of what?” Both asked, giving him mirror looks of confusion and concern, “What’s wrong, baby?”

“I think I’m going to…”

Willow bolted out the door, slipping past Freddy carefully to avoid his ire, and was violently ill in the toilet. Freddy followed along behind him, “You okay?”

“I just…” Willow panted, “I swear I saw two of you.”

“Two of me?” Freddy asked, “You sick or something? Clean up and take your temperature.”

Willow complied, shakily handing him the thermometer afterwards.

“Normal,” Freddy frowned, “The fuck is with you?”

“I don’t know,” Willow replied miserably.

“You gonna sick again?” Freddy asked, giving Willow a narrow eyed look, “It’s your turn to take it.”

“My turn to…” Willow blinked, “But we already did.”

“No,” Freddy replied, “I just came from Nina’s room.”

“Yeah, but before my shower you and I… you used lube and everything.”

Freddy’s eyes narrowed, “Roll over.”

Willow complied, lying face down on their bed, and Freddy spread his arsecheeks to stare down.

“You’re all rubbed raw, the fuck is this?!”

“I told you, we had sex earlier and- _ow!_ ”

Freddy’s hand had come down sharply on Willow’s bottom, but he was shaking mad so there was no way it was going to stop there. Terrified, Willow curled up in a ball while Freddy grabbed a cane from the nearby toy box.

“Who fucked you?!” Freddy screamed, bringing it down on Willow’s thigh.

“Ow! You!”

“Who fucked you?!”

“OW! You did! I swear it was you!” Willow sobbed, feeling a rib snap beneath the next strike, “Please! I can’t breath!”

“YOU’RE MINE! MINE, WILLOW! MINE! I’LL KILL YOU BEFORE I SHARE YOU!”

“Please,” Willow whimpered, and then let himself slide into his headspace while the world became a vicious, cold, painful place.


	6. Chapter 6

This summarizes the stuff in the previous chapter, but from the POV of the team. No triggers. 

 

JJ stood over Reid’s shoulder while he plotted out a map, but he didn’t seem to be using any of the data they had on hand. With his help they had located another dumpsite, but he’d been completely mute on it. He’d just pointed to a graveyard on a map- a literal graveyard- and left them to it. This time it was in Idaho. He’d been travelling an awful lot.

“They’re asking me to talk to you,” JJ said softly, reaching out and gently running her fingers through Reid’s hair, “Sweetheart, they want to know _exactly_ where to look in the graveyard… and how you’re building your data. I know we’re not as smart as you are but you don’t seem to be using the victimology on this. Are those more dumps sites?”

“Pick up sites,” Reid replied, “Where he had me help him pick up women. It was the only time I was allowed to know exactly where I was.”

“Women or… men who he turned into women.”

“Women.”

“I thought that stopped? Hadn’t he switched over to transwomen?”

“About once a month he went after a woman,” Reid replied, “I… can we not?”

“Yeah, okay,” She replied softly, “About the graves?”

“Have Garcia look into all the graves dug up in that area within a month of me going missing. After that we’ll have to start guessing. I know we were back there again at a later point, but we travelled a _lot_. I’m not sure we’ll ever find them all without locating Freddy first.”

“Assuming he’s still alive,” JJ stated softly.

“Right,” Reid replied softly, “Have you heard from Aaron’s team?”

“They just pulled into the neighbourhood,” JJ replied, “Did you need to talk to him?”

“No, just checking,” Reid replied calmly.

“Okay well just… let me know…” JJ replied softly.

“Jennifer?” Reid called, turning to face her just as she was walking away.

“Yeah?”

“I love you,” He stated softly, “You’re my best friend.”

JJ smiled softly, “I love you too, Spence.”

“You’re going to learn horrible things about me in the next few weeks. I just want you to know that I care about you, but I understand if you stop caring about me.”

JJ’s smile vanished, “That is _not_ going to happen.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Reid replied, “Trust me. It never works out.”

Reid turned away and JJ hurried out of the room to call Hotch.

“I’m worried,” She said softly, “He seems a bit… off somehow. I’m not sure how.”

“When he’s dealing with his trauma,” Hotch replied, “He sometimes goes all cold and speaks a bit differently. Almost as if he’s not really in the room, sort of… spaced out.”

“Yeah, that sounds right, but he also just told me he loves me- like a friend, mind you- and I’m worried. Does that sound like a goodbye to you?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t think he’d do that, but I worry about it anyway. Better keep on his tail.”

“I will,” JJ hung up the phone and headed saw that Morgan and Prentiss had finished giving their profile on their suspected rapist. So far it seemed like a separate case since O’Malley only went after women while he had a harem going, and as far as Garcia could tell them no men- closeted transwomen or otherwise- had gone missing.

“How’s he doing?” Morgan asked as he approached JJ.

“Acting odd and scaring me,” JJ replied.

“So, normal,” Prentiss replied, with a quirk of her lips.

“I’m worried he might become suicidal,” JJ replied.

“You keep working him, we’ll keep working the cases,” Morgan replied, “Hotch and Rossi at the house yet?”

JJ’s phone chimed, “That’s probably them now… Yes, they’re there. They said the place was recently occupied, there are signs of habitation!”

JJ bolted for the room, “Spence, there were people living in the house in Lehi. Whoever it was they just left, Hotch is on the line. Hotch, you’re on speaker.”

“Hey, Spencer, everyone.”

“Hi, Aaron,” Reid said softly, smiling for the first time in hours.

“So we’re at the house in Lehi,” Hotch stated, “It’s a bi-level with a finished basement. The space management is intense. They could have easily lived in here and been unseen for months at a time, even with a victim in here. They have a room that seems to be dedicated to torture, several bedrooms, and two kitchens. Then there’s a huge back yard and the neighbours are virtually invisible.”

“They won’t come out while you’re there,” Reid spoke up, “They probably even alerted the occupants. Some of the houses on the outskirts basically act as watchtowers for the rest of the homes.”

“We should have taken your advice and slipped in during the night,” Hotch replied, “I honestly didn’t think he was still alive but… there’s no way anyone else was living here with this… I’m going to send you pictures. I need Spencer to look at them but I want someone in the room with him at all times.”

“I can hear you, you know,” Spencer frowned.

“I know,” Hotch replied, and fell silent.

JJ’s tablet chimed and she unlocked it and plugged it into the television screen in the conference room. The screen lit up with pictures of the walls inside the building and Reid sat silent while they flicked through them.

“Spence,” JJ asked anxiously, “That stuff on the walls… it looks a _lot_ like what you’ve been doing here with your geographic profiling.”

“I had to explain it to him in a way he could understand,” Reid replied softly.

“Explain what, exactly?” Hotch asked.

“Before I answer that,” Reid replied, “I think I’m going to need a lawyer… and a deal.”


	7. Chapter 7

There was a shocked silence before Morgan spoke up.

“You _do_ remember it all, don’t you? You’ve been keeping thins from us,” He asked, his tone soft and angry.

“No, I have a _lot_ of gaps in my memory,” Reid stated, “But yes, I have been keeping some things from you. Not because I wanted to, but because I’m _ashamed_. He had me a year, Morgan. He broke me. He… wait… wait, go back. That last picture.”

Reid stood up, his eyes wide in alarm as a picture of a blank wall amidst all his sketches appeared.

“Hotch, draw your gun! Now!”

A rattling sound reached their ears and the call disconnected. Reid panicked, pulling at his hair and pacing the room while groaning and whimpering in fear while Morgan had Penelope raise the alarm to the rest of the team. JJ was trying to calm Reid, pulling him towards her by his upper arms and giving him a gentle shake.

“Spence, talk to me. What did you see? Come on, Spence, we need to know what we’re dealing with.”

“Blank wall. Blank wall. There was no blank wall. The dimensions were wrong. No blank wall.”

“Dimensions wrong?” Morgan asked.

“There’s a panic room in there!” Prentiss’ eyes widened, “Garcia! Tell them there’s a secret room! It’s in the room Hotch was photographing!”

“I’m on it. All parties are now aware.”

“I have to get out there,” Reid told JJ, “Jennifer, I need him. I can’t lose him.”

“You need to _calm down_ ,” JJ stated firmly, “Doctor Reid, get ahold of yourself! Professional behaviour. Push it down. Now!”

Reid stilled, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again he was calm again.

“Okay. I’m good.”

JJ nodded and stepped back, turning to Morgan and Prentiss as they continued relaying information with Garcia. It took a tense hour for the phone to ring again, and by then Reid was barely keeping it together.

“It’s Hotch, no casualties,” Hotch stated softly, “We’ve got two people in custody and I need Reid here. Fast.”

“We’re on our way,” JJ replied.

XXX

“You’re sure about this?” Strauss asked Hotch.

“I’m positive,” Hotch replied, “I’ll defend him to the death, but I need someone who’s been keeping up with the bar and I haven’t.”

“Then I’ll send someone over right away. I’m sending a neutral agent over to discuss Doctor Reid’s deal as well.”

“Thank you,” Hotch replied, hanging up and taking a steadying breath.

Reid and JJ were on their way to Lehi with sirens on, the other case being left in Prentiss and Morgan’s hands. By all rights they _should_ be taken off the case, but no one was prepared to deal with Reid so Strauss had decided to give them a neutral witness instead. He was on his way over and there was no doubt in his mind that he was part of Internal Affairs. Strauss was going to cover her ass, even if she wasn’t the bitch she’d started out as anymore.

Hotch couldn’t take it anymore. He stepped outside and called Reid, hand shaking until he heard that soft voice on the other line.

“Aaron.”

“Spence.”

“What happened?”

“I got my gun out just in time. The wall opened up and a half-dressed… person… attacked me with an axe. I had to shoot them. They’re on their way to the hospital.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m dealing,” Hotch replied, “It’s not the first suspect I’ve had to shoot, but I was picturing you the whole time and it made me sick. The rest of the team came in just in time to subdue the other two while I puked in the corner. Rossi gave me a look that suggested he thinks less of me than he does of you in pantyhose.”

Reid chuckled, “He’s so macho.”

“He sure thinks he is,” Hotch smiled softly, “I miss you. I’ve gotten so used to having you within arms reach.”

“I hate this,” Reid replied, “We have to find a way to work together or I’m going to have to leave. I hate to admit it but Strauss might be right. I might not be able to stay in the BAU.”

“I know,” Hotch replied, “I just… I want you where I can get to you at all times and that means out in the field with me.”

“And we both know you aren’t about to leave the field,” Reid teased, “We’d strangle each other within a week.”

“Definitely,” Hotch chuckled, “This job has never gotten to me so much until now.”

“You’re personally invested in this case. It’s Foyet all over again.”

Hotch closed his eyes. Reid had said what he hadn’t wanted to admit to. It was out and the shaking was back.

“I love you.”

“I know. I love you to.”

“I don’t want to say goodbye to you.”

“You won’t. I’ll be safe. Haley wasn’t your fault.”

“I know.”

“You _know_ , but you don’t _believe_.”

Hotch didn’t reply and Reid took his silence as an answer.

“Call Jack. You’ll feel better,” Reid replied soothingly.

“Time zone. He’s asleep now.”

“Jessica won’t mind.”

Reid hung up without saying goodbye and Hotch sighed, knowing he was right. A few minutes on the phone with his son would give him the resolve he needed right then. Of course, so would a few minutes with Reid’s head in his lap, but that wasn’t an option at this point.

He had just got off the phone with Jack when Reid’s SUV pulled up. He hurried over to it, using the vehicle to hide his actions from the team as he reached out and ran his fingers through Reid’s shoulder length, curly hair.

“I’d kiss you, but I think the neighbours are watching and I’m sure they’re looking for any excuse to take issue with us.”

“I know,” Reid replied, “Do you want me to talk to the people from the house? Or the neighbours?”

Hotch wanted Reid to get back in the SUV, drive to the airport, take the jet home, and stay there watching movies with Jack while being protected by an armed guard until he got back.

“Neighbours,” Hotch replied, “They know your face so they might open their doors for you. So far we haven’t even gotten a peak out of the curtains from them.”

“I’m on it.”

“JJ’s with you. I’m hoping women will be less intrusive,” Hotch replied, his explanation more of an apology for not being able to go with Reid on what was going to be _very_ difficult for him.

“Good call,” Reid replied, which was their own private language for ‘that’s okay’.

Reid headed for the house on the left and it wasn’t until he was knocking on the door that Hotch realized something rather shocking. Reid hadn’t asked if Alfred O’Malley was amongst those arrested or shot in the house.

XXX

Reid smiled softly as the door creaked open and a woman stared him down.

“Hi Maeve,” He stated softly, “Long time.”

“Willow,” She nodded sharply, “You’re here with these feebs?”

“I’m one of them,” Reid replied.

The door moved to shut, but Reid put one steal-toed designer shoe in the way and Maeve gave him a glare worthy of his deception.

“I was kidnapped, Maeve,” Reid stated, “Freddy was holding me hostage the whole time you knew me. These people aren’t here to question your way of life, they’re here to stop a rapist and murderer. Think of your daughters. Your sons. He prays on _both_.”

Maeve’s eyes widened and the door slowly opened further, “Why should I believe you?”

“Because I can prove it. Will you come with me?” Reid held out his hand and Maeve hesitantly took it, “Your husband can come if you want. Or one of your sister wives. No one’s going to arrest you for bigamy today.”

Reid gently tugged her out the door and his mind flashed back to a day nearly eleven months ago when he’d been on the opposite side. Maeve had stood at their door, a loaf of banana bread in one hand and her other held out welcomingly. Behind him Freddy had stood with a shotgun pointed towards Willow’s head, but Maeve had been sweetly innocent of that knowledge.

“You got nothing to fear here, sweetheart,” Maeve had smiled softly, “We’re like you. No judgement. You can walk outside with your husband and sister wives without fear.”

“Go ahead,” Freddy whispered, “Know that I will have my gun on you the whole time. Don’t you betray me, bitch.”

“My name’s Maeve,” Maeve had stated, talking to him as if he were a skittish animal, “Maeve Franklin. I’m a first wife, not that my husband rightly cares who came first.”

“Willow,” Willow had replied softly, taking her hand. It was rough from housework and gardening, sturdy and strong, and Willow felt weak compared to this proud woman, “Willow O’Malley. First wife.”

Now Maeve stepped outside and Reid led her back towards the house he had been kept in, stepping inside with his ‘Agent’ face on despite the fear crawling up his spine.

“This is where I spent a year of my life,” Reid said to her softly, still holding her hand as he walked her through the house towards the torture room, “And here is where my sister wives died.”

“Oh my dear sweet Lord,” Maeve stared at the bloodstained tile floor and the work bench that had been converted into a torture table.

“I need your help, Maeve. So many of my memories are locked up, but I’d rather it was Freddy who was incarcerated. Will you help me?”

“I’ll help you, sweetheart,” Maeve replied, moving closer to him and putting an arm around his shoulders comfortingly despite her shorter height, “Though I’ve no idea how.”

“Talk to me,” Reid replied, “Where is he?”

“He ran when the feds showed up. He’s… oh my God, he’s with the Johnson’s!”

“Second house to the right, go!” Reid barked at the nearest officer.

The man dropped what he was doing and bolted for the door, speaking into his radio as he went. Hotch was out the door after them, his eyes giving Reid a worried glance before his hand slid to his weapon. JJ was behind Reid, as silent and reassuring as Hotch longed to be. Reid knew that she would protect him in his lover’s stead and that was the only thing keeping him from collapsing as the walls around him echoed with memories of a recent and horrible past.


	8. Chapter 8

Reid stared in silence at the two people in their holding cells. They were both in different stages of transition and clearly mentally scarred by Freddy’s abuse. On the left was a blonde Caucasian with a strong English nose and wide, frightened eyes. He wore a dress with a level of discomfort that Reid vaguely remembered from his childhood when he’d first put them on and discovered the combination of shame and pride that went through him. On the right was a Latina who was nearly through transition with the exception of bottom surgery. She had full breasts that were practically on display in the netted blouse with a black bra to save some of her modesty. She wore a jeans skirt and moved with the grace of a professional model. She wore a cinnamon coloured wig, but it was apparently by choice rather than necessity; the hair beneath when she tossed it to the side was slightly curled and died a brilliant shade of pink. She was giving everyone around her attitude except for Reid. When she saw Reid she just went still and studied him in silence. Hotch picked up on it and they found themselves in an interrogation room with her.

“Do you know me?” Reid asked, delicately lowering himself into the chair that Hotch pulled out for him.

“Seen your picture,” She replied, her voice surprisingly high for such a tall girl, “Don’t know your name.”

“He called me Willow,” Reid replied.

“You escaped?”

“I think he may have let me go,” Reid replied, “But my memories are… torn.”

“Yeah,” She nodded, “Got that.”

“We have to question you,” Reid replied, “But we already know a lot of what you went through, so we aren’t going to make you relive it any more than you already have.”

“Can’t relive something you’re already living,” She replied, “Want to go home. Husband expects dinner on the table at six sharp. You’ve got no right to hold us. We’ve not broken any laws. We’re not legally married so there’s no bigamy thing going on. The only law broken was when _he_ shot Samantha.”

Reid ignored her words, opening the file in front of him and spreading out pictures of decimated corpses.

“What pronouns do you prefer? And what name can I call you?”

“Female and ‘Kiss It Copper.”

“Mind if I shorten that to Kim?” Reid asked.

She stiffened in alarm and Reid smiled softly, “I outsmarted _him_ , Kimberly. Do you really think you can outsmart me? We’re going to catch him and when we do he’ll pay for what he did to you and that other poor person out there.”

“He hasn’t done _anything_ wrong. He rescued us. We were _smothered_ by society and he saved us. Was going to jump off a bridge and he just swooped in and… damn doctor said _didn’t need_ hormones because apparently transgender people aren’t real in his eyes!”

“Kimberly, I hear the way you’re avoiding referring to yourself. The way you skip over words like ‘me’ and ‘I’. I know you love him. I know that he’s convinced you that you deserve this. I’m telling you right now that you are a person, not a toy, and you deserve to be treated as a person. I’m sorry you were denied treatment by a doctor like that,” Reid stated, “If you give us your dosage we can make sure your HRT continues while you’re in our care.”

That caught her off guard and she stared at him blankly for a moment, “Okay. What do… _I_ have to do in return?”

“Tell us where he’d go,” Reid replied, “Nothing more, nothing less. No sex, no violence, no threats, no withholding food or water, no locking you away from the world. You’re beautiful and it’s time you were seen, don’t you think?”

She was still a moment, studying him quietly before slowly reaching for a pen, “On the cop shows you always need to make a deal.”

“We have one for you,” Reid replied, “The same one I’ve got, actually.”

“We’re willing to offer you immunity,” Hotch stated, “For any crimes committed under Alfred O’Malley’s influence in return for information. We need his possible locations, the locations and names of past and present victims, and any other information that may lead to his capture.”

“And in return you’ll get… me what I need?” Kimberly asked softly.

“And give you a chance to start your new life,” Reid replied softly, reaching out and wrapping his fingers around Hotch’s hand. They were angled so the camera wouldn’t catch that moment, but for Kimberly it was _intensely_ significant, “Hopefully it will be as good as the one I have now.”

“I don’t have to put out for anyone?”

“No one you don’t want to,” Reid replied.

“What about you?” She asked, tossing her head haughtily, “You ass-up for them?”

“Only when I want to be,” Reid smirked.

She gave him a respectful nod, “Yeah. Okay. I want that deal in writing.”

Hotch freed his hand and pulled out a paper from his file, “You got it. Now sign off and let’s talk about these poor people we found.”

XXX

It had been a long day. Reid was tired, emotionally drained, and painfully aware of how badly Hotch wanted to get him alone. The feeling was mutual, but he was also suffering from no small amount of anxiety after being back in one of the houses he’d been tortured and raped in for so long. They retired to their joint hotel room and Reid kicked off his shoes enthusiastically.

“I’ll never know how women walk in those all day,” Hotch snickered.

“High pain threshold,” Reid replied, faceplanting onto the bed, “Also the leg muscles alter until it becomes painful to put the foot flat again. Not that I wear particularly high heels.”

“Thank goodness for that,” Hotch replied, “Though I must admit, your legs look _fantastic_ in heels.”

“Mm,” Reid rolled over and stretched like a cat, “I feel so beautiful in women’s clothes. So _alive_.”

“It shows,” Hotch stated, heading for him with a tender smile, “You _are_ beautiful. My beautiful lover.”

Reid sat up, his eyes warry, “I’m not sure what I’m up for after today.”

“That’s fine,” Hotch smiled warmly, sitting beside him and gently cupping his cheek, “I just want to hold you. Will that be okay?”

“Absolutely,” Reid smiled, putting out his arms.

Hotch pulled Reid into his lap, smiling as the young man straddled his hips. They nuzzled their noses together for a moment before just hugging each other tightly, Reid’s forehead buried against Hotch’s shoulder.

“I love you,” Hotch said softly, “I’m sorry you have to go through this.”

“I just want him gone,” Reid said softly, “I wish I _had_ killed him.”

“Me too,” Hotch sighed, “Yet at the same time I’ve got this sick longing to be stuck in a confrontational situation that allows me to kill him for you.”

“Mmm, cowboy,” Reid snickered, squirming a bit as the idea of Hotch ‘defending his honour’ cropped up in his mind.

“Oh, you like that, do you?”

“I bet we can find a cowboy hat somewhere,” Reid suggested.

“And maybe I can remind you how much you like cuffs when _I’m_ the one who puts them on you,” Hotch suggested.

“Oh wow,” Reid sat back with a purr, “That does it for me alright.”

“Will you be okay if I go hat shopping?” Hotch asked.

“Yeah,” Reid slipped out of his lap, “I’m going to take a bath and get myself ready for you.”

“Mmm,” Hotch growled, adjusting his tie, “I like that idea. Will you be all wet and stretched for me when I get home?”

Reid grabbed his tie and pulled him forward straightening it out before leaning forward to whisper into his ear, “I brought a plug with me. I want you to come inside me and then stuff the plug inside so I can carry you with me _all day_ tomorrow.”

Hotch groaned and Reid let his tie slide out of his fingers as Hotch slowly straightened up.

“I’ll be back. When I am…” Hotch let the sentence hang and hurried out the door.

Reid hurried to the door with a giggle and listened as Hotch spoke to Garcia on the phone.

“Garcia, I need to know where the closest all-night store is with cowboy hats in stock. Don’t ask. No, it’s not for R…”

Reid straightened up with a laugh, punching the air in excitement. It never failed. Hotch was an intense and powerful man, his strength of will left Reid feeling safe and secure… and aroused. Reid bolted for the bathroom with an enema kit, lube, and two different sized plugs. He’d use the smaller one before and the larger after. That way he could feel it when Hotch first sank into him and then enjoy the full burn for the rest of the day. Or at least as long as he could handle the plug, which was for a considerable length of time thanks to his ‘training’.

Reid was deep in a comfortable place in his mind when Hotch returned, a cowboy hat on his head and his dress shirt partially unbuttoned and a pair of cowhide patterned cotton chaps on his legs. His ass and crotch were bare and he was wearing a pair of brown boots.

“Well, hey there lil’ lady,” Hotch winked, propping up one foot on the door jamb, “I hear you need a bit O’ help?”

Reid burst out laughing, shaking his head in amusement, “Maybe stick to the tall, silent routine.”

“It does work better for me,” Hotch chuckled, “Come on out of there?”

“Sure,” Reid stood up, grabbing a towel and roughing up his hair.

“You’re so gorgeous,” Hotch sighed, “I can’t believe you’re mine.”

“Mm, I like the possessives,” Reid smiled, peering out from under the towel, “I want to be yours forever.”

“Until the end of time, my sweet love,” Hotch replied, holding out his hand, “Come here, darling.”

Reid stepped from the bath, the towel hanging fetchingly down his body as if it were a garb. Hotch took it from his hands and swept it around him, pulling him forward against his body. Once there he dried him vigorously, not bothering to be gentle as he stared possessively into Reid’s eyes.

“Aaron,” Reid whispered softly, his eyes starting to glaze as he sank into that place he went to when he felt safe with Hotch. It was so different from the place he went when protecting his mind from Freddy, and yet he had a feeling that it was close to it somehow.

Hotch hummed in arousal and pulled Reid towards the bed, carefully clipping the cuffs on his wrists in front of him. His motions were slow and tender. This was about making Reid feel safe, not trapping or restraining him. He laid him down on his back on the bed, arranging his limbs slowly. Then he pulled out a cock ring and paused.

“Is this okay?”

Reid squirmed, his mind struggling to figure out what was happening. This was Aaron. This was safe. Wasn’t he?

“Okay,” Reid decided.

“Good,” Hotch replied, “Because I want to take you twice. Once each way. What do you say?”

Reid nodded, too far into himself to respond as he sank into the pleasurable place in his mind again. Hotch coaxed him to soften a bit more by pressing his cock down until the blood grudgingly left his member. Then he slipped the plastic ring around both penis and bollocks before mouthing Reid until he was hard again. Reid whimpered and squirmed, pleasure warring with insecurity, but by the time Hotch straddled his hips and began to finger himself open Reid was more than ready for him.

Hotch sank down onto Reid’s cock, moaning at the burn, before removing his shirt and grinning down at Reid in just his hat, chaps, and boots. Reid gasped, his body tensing with a need for friction as the man in his lap smiled down at him wickedly.

“Ready?” Hotch purred. Reid whimpered in reply, “Because I’m going to ride you like a horse.”

Hotch started rolling his hips, moaning as he found his own prostate. Reid could barely pay attention to the pleasure his lover was feeling because he was too busy gasping in delight. The visual show as Hotch’s muscles flexed, his nipples peaked in the cool room, as the potent man peered at him from beneath the hat, was all too much for him. Reid let his eyes roll back in his head and rolled his hips up to give Hotch something to _really_ ride, and the man groaned eagerly as he began to shift his hips faster. Reid opened his eyes to see that Hotch had one hand on his hat and the other planted on Reid’s chest. He thumbed a nipple and Reid let out a low moan, tugging on the cuffs and arching up into him at a faster rate. Hotch slowed him down with an authoritative growl and Reid whimpered and gasped. They were stretching their muscles now, really pushing themselves as they moved slowly together, Reid’s feet planted to allow him to lift up into Hotch’s hot, suckling body while Hotch growled and rolled his hips, abs rippling as they became damp with sweat.

“Aaron,” Reid groaned, “Please. Please let me come.”

Hotch moaned and climbed off of him, lifting one of Reid’s legs to tug the plug free. He slicked up his cock and pressed slowly inside as Reid gasped and moaned at the tight burn. Hotch groaned in relief, pulled out a bit and then pressed more fully into him. Reid sighed in bliss as his lover’s balls pressed against his ass. Once he was fully seated Hotch took a moment to catch his breath, his face visibly strained as he held his own orgasm back. He reached down and fumbled with the clasp on the cock ring, freeing Reid and stroking his bollocks lovingly while he smiled down at him.

“So perfect. So beautiful. Thank you for doing that for me.”

Reid whimpered, “I’m allowed?”

“To come? Yes. Absolutely. I want to see you come for me, Spencer.”

Hotch pushed one thigh back to give himself access, stuffed a pillow beneath Reid’s hips, arranged his other leg in a position Reid could hold easily, and began to thrust into him firmly. With his other hand he reached down and took hold of Reid’s purpled cock, stroking the leaking, hard member fast as he fucked Reid without restraint. Hotch moaned in pleasure while Reid gasped and gripped the pillow above his head with both hands.

“Aaron!” Reid cried out, moaning and tossing his head from side to side. His damp curls were sticking to his forehead so Hotch leaned forward and licked a stray droplet of water from his cheek.

“My love,” He whispered.

Reid sobbed as he came hard, his cock pulsing in Hotch’s hand. He couldn’t stop the tears that sprang forth and from the sound of Hotch’s soft moans of pleasure, he didn’t want him to. Hotch stilled and Reid felt the hot wetness invade his body as the man emptied himself inside of him. He grunted, groaned, and then slid free to fumble with the prepared plug Reid had left on the table for him. He pressed it inside, twisting it until Reid relaxed around the thick intrusion. Reid lay limp on the bed, panting and gazing up at Hotch lovingly as the man took off the hat and ran his arm over his forehead.

“This thing doesn’t breathe,” Hotch complained.

“Worth it,” Reid insisted.

“To see your face while I had my filthy way with you? Definitely.”

XXX

_I forgot to mention that these sorts of flashbacks aren’t going in any type of order. It’s as Reid recalls them._

WARNING: Abuse and torture.

“What’s your name, bitch?”

“Doctor Spencer Re- _AH!”_

Reid writhed on the cold, hard floor where O’Malley had him tied down, arms and legs spread eagle and lashed to poles cemented into the floor. They were tied so tight that he was afraid his joints would disconnect if he moved too much, and it was proving difficult to hold still since the bastard was hitting him with a bullwhip every time he answered incorrectly. Reid could feel blood running down his sides, and his neck had passed aching and headed right for in need of medical attention. He’d been raped earlier and wasn’t sure if it was blood or semen dripping out of his body, but he was sure that he was in absolute agony, and had never experienced more pain or self loathing in his life.

“What’s your name, bitch?”

“B-bitch,” Reid tried.

_Crack!_

“Fuck! Ah! Please!”

“What’s your name, bitch?”

“I don’t know what you want me to say!” Reid sobbed, shaking as he lay there in a pool of his own urine and blood.

 _Crack_!

Reid screamed and began to sob harder, his joints protesting the jolting motion. So what? What was more pain? He was already in agony.

“What’s your name, bitch?”

“James!”

_Crack!_

“John!”

_Crack!_

“Robert!”

_Crack!_

“That’s the three most common male names in America, what do you want from me?!”

 _Crack_!

“Okay. Okay. Female names, right?”

_Crack!_

“Ahh! I’m trying!” Reid sobbed, “Mary!”

_Crack!_

“I think my rib is broken.”

 _Crack_!

“Patricia,” Reid whispered, feeling his mind starting to slip towards unconsciousness. He needed to stay alert. He might not survive if he passed out at this moment.

_Crack!_

“L-Linda.”

_Crack!_

Reid’s mind spun around and around in circles. He needed relief. From the pain if not from the bloodloss. He just wanted to stop hurting. He was trying to think of a way to focus and stay alive, but all that he could think of was how much _pain_ he was in. How cold he was. How much blood he had flowing down his sides. How dehydrated he was.

_If I escape I can find a willow tree and make painkillers for myself._

“Say that again?” O’Malley asked, his voice oddly soft.

“W-willow tree.”

“Willow. Yeah. That will do. Your name is now Willow and you will be my toy until I decide to dispose of you. Now. What’s your name?”

“Willow.”

“Good job, Willow. Lacy! Get in here and give our new guest some TLC!”

Lacy came in and knelt down beside the limp form on the floor. She brushed damp curls aside and made soft shushing noises.

“Hey there, sweetheart. I was wondering when he’d let us meet. My name’s Lacy. What’s yours?”

“Willow,” Willow whispered softly, “My name is Willow.”


	9. Chapter 9

O’Malley was in the wind. He hadn’t gone to the Johnson’s as he’d said he would but fled the area completely. They’d put up traffic stops the second they’d realized he wasn’t in the house, but he’d still managed to vanish. Some of the homes had connecting cellars reminiscent of the Underground Railroad for freeing slaves. It was meant to allow the families to flee in the night if someone decided that they didn’t like how many wives a man had. O’Malley had used the kind people around him and fled in the night. It wasn’t until the morning, while he was having breakfast at a café with Maeve, that he found out one of the teenagers in the Johnson’s house was transgender but being repressed by his religious parents. It was entirely possible that O’Malley had been planning on taking him when he reached an age the man found acceptable. Maeve was suitably horrified and Reid held her hand tightly.

“Explain it to me, Willow,” Maeve asked, gripping his hand tightly, “How did you survive? From what I read in the papers and what the police have been saying since yesterday he kills all the women.”

Reid winced. He adored this woman and didn’t want to lose her respect, but lying to her meant she didn’t truly respect _him_.

“Actually… it’s Spencer. Doctor Spencer Reid. I was… am… a man. I choose to dress like a woman now and I’m good at it, apparently.”

Maeve’s hand withdrew as she sat back in the booth. Her sweet features had turned from concern to shock as she stared at him, eyes studying him in an attempt to see the man beneath the feminine exterior.

“You’ve got make-up hiding your Adam’s apple.”

“Yes,” Reid nodded, “It’s called contouring. It gives my face more of a feminine shape. I shave twice a day. Three times on long days.”

“Everywhere?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Ahh,” Reid laughed nervously, “I shave my legs and pits. I’ve never had overly hairy arms. The rest isn’t your business.”

Maeve snorted, “Why not? We used to talk about the things we did to please our…”

Maeve’s face underwent a supreme change, and this time he knew she understood. She reached out and took his hand again.

“Oh my God, Wi- _Spencer_ , I’m so, so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Maeve,” Reid’s eyes dropped, “I liked all those conversations. I’m applying them to my _current_ relationship. He’s nice. You met him. One of the agents.”

“The dark haired one with the mole?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought I saw chemistry,” Maeve nodded, “You ready for a relationship this soon after…?”

“Yes and no,” Reid sighed, “He’s patient with me. Supportive. He’s going to have to be because I think I’m losing my mind.”

“What do you mean?” Maeve asked.

Reid stared over Maeve’s shoulder at the table next to the door. Cold grey eyes peered over the menu at him and an eyebrow rose to give him the look that he knew meant ‘shut it’. He wisely obeyed, but Maeve had already glanced over her shoulder to see what was there. The menu jerked up so she didn’t recognize him.

Reid shut his eyes a moment, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” She replied, reaching out to brush his hair aside, “You’ve got a right to… whatever this is.”

“Are we still friends?”

“What, because you’ve got a wiener? Sure we’re still friends.”

Reid laughed a bit, smiling at her through tears that were fighting up. He blinked them back so his mascara wouldn’t run.

“I hope you still feel that way in a few hours.”

“A few hours?” Maeve asked, eyes widening in fear, “What’s gonna happen in a few hours? You said they’d leave my family alone!”

“They will,” Reid replied, “It’s just… look, take care of yourself, Maeve. I really do like you and I don’t want you to… I don’t want anything bad to happen to you or your family.”

“Spencer, you’re scaring me,” Maeve replied.

At that moment Hotch stepped through the door, his eyes alighting on Reid.

“Time to go,” Hotch stated.

“Okay, I’m on my way,” Reid replied, snatching up the coffee pot and pouring some into a travel cup he’d requested earlier, “I have to go.”

“Wait!” Maeve stood up, trying to cut off his retreat, “Wait, what did you mean? What’s going to happen in a few hours?”

“He’s either going to make a stand or…” Reid paused.

“Or?”

“Vanish,” Reid replied, “My bet is on the former, and if he does he’s going to try to take _everyone_ down with him.”

“Then maybe you should be the one staying safe,” Maeve worried, “I’ve got nothing to do with this.”

“You’ve more than you know,” Reid replied, “He was always watching. He knows how close we were.”

Maeve’s lips trembled, her hand moving towards her purse where she kept a tattered book.

“We never did anything,” Maeve said softly, “I didn’t even know you were a fellow. I’m faithful to my husband.”

“He’ll consider it cheating,” Reid stated, “Even if it wasn’t physical. Goodbye, Maeve. Stay safe.”

Reid hurried to where Hotch was standing outside the door, toe tapping and eyes on his watch.

“Sorry,” Reid said shyly.

“It’s fine,” Hotch replied, but Reid could tell by his tone that it wasn’t.

“It wasn’t physical,” Reid stated immediately.

“I know. You told me that this morning. Twice.”

“It wasn’t sexual, either. Not really.”

“You mentioned that as well,” Hotch replied, halting his fast walk down the sidewalk to turn to face Reid, “Look, I’m not jealous. Not really. More… worried. You’re bisexual and I’m concerned that you’ve never had a chance to experiment with women. I don’t want to restrict you. It’s bad enough I’m the only lover you’ve _willingly_ had.”

“I don’t want anyone else,” Reid replied, “I had time for that before I showed up at your house. I’m committed to this. To you.”

“To us,” Hotch corrected with a soft smile.

“Exactly,” Reid nodded, “How many people can say they found true love on the first try?”

Hotch’s eyes glimmered with pain, “Probably about as many who can say they found it twice on the first try.”

“Aaron,” Reid sighed, pulling him into a hug, “I know you still miss her. Think of Maeve like Haley. A part of me is always going to be with her, but I’m here with _you_ now and I don’t regret that.”

Hotch hugged him tightly and Reid stared into the distance. A bruised face leered at him and then vanished behind a tree. Reid shivered and pulled away from Hotch’s embrace.

“Come on. They’re waiting for us at the station.”

XXX

When they arrived at the station Reid and Hotch walked into precisely the situation that Hotch knew Reid had been dreading. Rossi, the IA agent, Strauss, and two officers were staring them down from the door.

“Is this really necessary?” Hotch asked, one hand defensively around Reid’s shoulder.

“You know it is, Aaron,” Strauss sighed.

“Erin, he’s _traumatized_.”

“So are all the victims we talk to,” Rossi replied, “That doesn’t stop us from begging, demanding, and legally coercing them into talking to us. You know he’s holding out on us.”

“It’s fine,” Reid replied, “I’m ready.”

Reid headed for the interrogation room but Strauss stammered about them going someplace more comfortable.

“I work here,” Reid replied, opening the door to the interrogation room, “This _is_ comfortable for me.”

Reid walked in and sat down on the side the perps usually sat on, folding his hands comfortably. Hotch joined him on his side, putting his hand over both of Reid’s. Rossi and the IA agent sat down opposite.

“I’m Detective Cordon, from-“

“IA,” Reid and Hotch both stated, “We know.”

“Okay,” He gave them both a started look, “I’m here as an impartial witness and to make sure that your deal is carried through. I have the copy you faxed me yesterday-“

“Can we get on with this, please?” Reid asked.

“Yes, of course,” He frowned, “Doctor Reid, I understand that you were taken hostage on…”

Reid kept his face blank, which Hotch knew from having held him countless times was quite different. His answers were short and to the point. Had you participated in a murder? Yes. What were your precise actions? I restrained the victims and helped dispose of their bodies. I also helped select them and helped O’Malley avoid detection by authorities. Did you rape anyone? No. Were you rape? Yes. By O’Malley? By so many people I’ve lost track. Some of it is blurry. Did you steal pharmaceuticals? Yes.

Finally they got to the nitty gritty, the dates, locations, and identities of the other victims. This was where Reid began to sweat and struggle to recall. He shifted uncomfortably and they had to take several breaks for him to use the bathroom and get water or coffee. When they came to the end of his captivity Reid’s mind was a complete blank. He simply had no idea what had happened beyond the murders of the last of the ‘wives’ and then him hallucinating an Alfred O’Malley to continue the abuse. Why O’Malley was no longer around to enforce his rules on Reid was a complete mystery. Eventually Rossi suggested hypnosis.

“I still don’t want to do that,” Reid replied anxiously, “My mind isn’t in the same state it was last time we tried hypnosis, and even then I was confused and distressed.”

“We have to do something to bring your memories to the surface,” Rossi replied softly, “Close your eyes and…”

“No, wait,” Reid replied, “I have a better idea, but I need to talk to Aaron alone.”

They were given reprieve and Hotch took Reid into a meeting room.

“What’s on your mind?” Hotch asked, pulling him close and stroking his fingers through Reid’s curly hair, “Do you need another break? We can tell them to wait until tomorrow. I’m representing you as a lawyer, so I can call a stop at any time to-“

“I need you to cuff me.”

“Sorry?” Hotch asked, feeling a curl of desire despite himself.

“When you cuff me I sink down inside myself. Don’t take this the wrong way, because it _is_ different, but it’s kind of like how I sunk into myself when Freddy was abusing me.”

“A dissociative state,” Hotch nodded, “It’s rather similar to headspace or subspace. Are you sure you want to make yourself that vulnerable in front of them?”

Reid smiled and reached up to touch Hotch’s face, mirroring his gentle touch through his hair, “I’m not vulnerable when I’m with you.”

“It’s going to require more than cuffs.”

“I’ll deal.”

“Okay, I’ll tell them.”

Hotch headed out without giving Reid a chance to argue with him and headed straight for the room again.

“Reid wants me to try to bring the memories out by taking him into a similar state of mind to the one he was in while being abused.”

“So hypnosis?” Strauss asked in confusion.

“He wants you to Dom him?” Rossi asked, his eyes concerned, “Is that safe? Have you two done that before?”

Hotch smirked, “Before you guys barged in and found me cuffed when you ‘rescued’ me… Reid was wearing them.”

“You _dog,_ you,” Rossi smirked.

“Really, David?” Hotch sighed.

Reid walked in and sat down, turning his chair to face Hotch and putting out his hands with a deep, calming breath.

Hotch pulled out his cuffs and carefully clipped them on to Reid’s wrists, making sure they were tight enough that he wouldn’t hurt himself by trying to escape in a panic. As he clipped them on he slowly stroked Reid’s fingers and hands, then moved up his arms to pet them tenderly before wrapping his hands around Reid’s throat for a moment. Reid’s eyes met his, trusting, smiling, and starting to glaze over.

“I’ve got you,” Hotch said softly, “I’m going to kiss you now.”

“Mm,” Reid hummed softly in agreement.

Hotch leaned forward and drew him into a slow, deep kiss. He lingered there for a while, simply tasting Reid’s coffee and the gum he’d chewed after. Then he moved to the side, kissing along his jaw, and when he reached his neck he dug in, biting savagely. Reid made a choked sound and then whimpered softly.

“Aaron… please…”

Hotch leaned back. Reid’s headspace wasn’t about a pain threshold or a particular trigger, it was about Hotch making him feel safe and sexually vulnerable at the same time. It had worked. He was there, his head tilted to one side and his eyes full of promise and longing.

“Spencer,” Hotch spoke softly, stroking his cheek with his thumb while cupping his jaw, “I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything, Aaron,” Reid purred, sliding down to his knees on the floor and giving him a heavy-lidded gaze.

Hotch swallowed hard as several kinks of his collided. _Later, Aaron._

“I want to know what Freddy’s plans were. What was he planning right before you contacted me?”

Reid giggled and Hotch’s skin crawled as he gave him a lipsided grin, “What _wasn’t_ he planning?”

“Spencer?” Hotch asked, narrowing his eyes, “Answer me.”

“We were at the house in Lehi,” Reid spoke softly, “The first time he killed a wife… or at least that we knew of. The next day he dressed us up like ponies and packed us up…”

XXX

Willow was walked out of the trailer, his legs shaking from the long ride. Freddy was tired so he took them in and just lashed them to their tiedowns. He did unchain their hands so they could remove their butt plugs and use the litter box put out for them. Willow used some baby wipes to help his sister wives clean up, especially around places that they couldn’t reach. Unfortunately for Willow, being the ‘first wife’ and Freddy’s favourite made him the most hated. The girls wouldn’t help him clean up so he contorted his already pained muscles until he could manage it.

Then he curled up and slept, grateful that San Diego- assuming that was where they were- was warm enough to go without the blankets Freddy had failed to give him. Nearby Nina and Ginny were kissing slowly, hands stroking each other lovingly. They couldn’t touch each other’s cocks, but this wasn’t about sex. This was about affection, something that Willow got only from Freddy and they got from Willow and each other. Willow watched his sister wives fondly, but he knew his love for them wouldn’t be returned. They only let him touch them when they needed help cleaning themselves or their wounds. Then they would stare up at him with such wide eyes and he’d coo over them. Yet they hated him. They hated Freddy. They also loved both of them. Willow was as much their captor as Freddy was because he gave them the affection that Freddy was incapable of. They were all of them trapped.

Willow was sleeping soundly when Freddy woke him up, shaking him viciously until he jolted up and kneeled obediently.

“Yes, sir?” Willow stammered, burying a yawn.

“I need a word with you, Willow,” Freddy spoke softly, unchaining him and guiding him away from the others.

They went to the dungeon, which was in the basement of the San Diego house. Now that Reid could see more of the house, rather than a darkened room half hidden by his blinders, he was sure that it was San Diego.

“How may I serve you?” Willow purred.

“You and the others sodomized me,” Freddy stated softly, sitting down on the torture table. Willow was kneeling at his feet, shifting uncomfortably on the hard, cold floor.

“We’re sorry,” Willow replied, “It was a conditioned response.”

“Yeah,” Freddy scoffed.

“Is this real?” Willow asked, “Sometimes when we talk I find out later it wasn’t you.”

“Yeah, this is the real me. Does the hallucination me tell you he’s real?”

“No,” Willow smiled up at him, careful not to actually meet his eyes, “No, he admits he’s fake.”

“Huh, he’s more honest than I am.”

Willow laughed and so did Freddy.

“What do we do now?” Willow asked softly.

“I’m going to kill both of them,” Freddy replied with a sigh, as if he were having to put down a beloved family pet.

“I’ll help,” Willow replied, putting his hand on Freddy’s knee and stroking it tenderly, “It’s going to hurt for a while, but we’ll get through this.”

“Yeah, but there’s just one thing, Willow. You. You helped them. You pinned me down while they fucked my ass with a damn dildo,” Freddy chuckled, shaking his head as he smiled down at Willow as if bemused.

“I know,” Willow replied, “It was a con-“

“Conditioned response, I know.”

“Whatever you decide,” Willow replied softly, “I’ll understand. I’ve been thinking dying might be nice anyway.”

“So no hard feelings, huh?” Freddy chuckled, “I have an offer for you.”

“What kind of offer?” Willow asked.

“The police would give you one phone call… so will I,” Freddy smirked, pulling out a phone and holding it up, “I can buy you a card for it. You can use it. You can call anyone you want. Your mother. Your best friend. Your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend. Whoever you want.”

Willow licked his lips, “What then? Will you tell me what to say?”

“Do you want me to?”

“Yes,” Willow replied immediately. Whatever he said would give the person he called evidence.

“Okay,” Freddy smiled, “I can understand that. Do you know why I’m giving you this option?”

“To say goodbye?” Willow asked.

“Not exactly,” Freddy replied, “You see, I’ve come to… respect you. You remind me of my brother.”

Willow’s eyes widened, but something about the way he said it kept Willow from asking to meet him, “I had no idea you had a brother.”

“He killed himself when we were teenagers. Our parents… they didn’t understand. Twins have a deep and profound love between them.”

Willow’s stomach rolled. He thought he might know what sort of love Freddy meant.

“Your twin was… transgender?”

“He was never allowed to transition,” Freddy replied miserably, “All he ever wanted was to be a woman. My parents wouldn’t let him so he killed himself and I was… so angry.”

“I’m so sorry, Freddy,” Willow replied softly, petting his knee again.

“You’re the first person I’ve met who gave me even _close_ to the kind of comfort that I had with him, Willow.”

“I’ve tried to be a good wife,” Willow replied softly.

“And that’s why I’m letting you make a phone call,” Freddy nodded, “I got you virginal, Willow. I got you from a life you had before mine. I tried to free you from your fears and get you out of the closet and it _worked_ , but I can’t save you from your past. You have to face it. Whoever you call tomorrow, you’re going to have to face them. I’m going to let you go, Willow, and trust that you’ll come back to me.”

“You’re…” Willow had a terrifying moment where his stomach dropped out of his body. He gasped and clutched at Freddy, tears starting up, “No. Please no! Please don’t send me away! Please, Freddy! I love you! I’d rather you kill me! Please!!”

“Shh,” Freddy stroked Willow’s face, brushing his tears aside, “Shh, I’m not casting you aside, my beautiful Willow. I’m not pushing you away. I’m giving you a chance to _live_ and then _choose_ to return to me. Go out. Bed men and women. Be free. I can’t watch you do it, I’ve never been able to share you, but I know you need this. Come back to me when you’re ready.”

“I don’t think I can do this,” Willow sobbed.

“You can,” Freddy soothed, “And when you come back to me we’ll be more than lovers, more than husband and wife, we’ll be _equals_. For now, let’s go to bed. I want you.”

The next day dawned and Freddy didn’t bring up the phone call until close to dinnertime. Then he handed Willow the phone and let him shakily turn it on. He was planning on calling his mother, but something was telling him not to. To his surprise the phone activated without use of a card. Someone had been keeping the bill paid, and he suspected it was Hotch. That settled who he was going to call and he quickly dialled his former boss’ number.

“Agent Hotchner,” Hotch said firmly.

Willow’s stomach dropped. He could hear all the hope and worry in Hotch’s voice even as the man tried to keep his tone neutral. He couldn’t force out a reply, his hand going over his mouth as he choked back tears.

“This is SSA Aaron Hotchner, _FBI_. Answer me,” Hotch snapped, his tone angry now.

Willow swallowed hard and whispered, “Haa. Hhh…”

“Reid?” Hotch tried softly.

_That was my name once._

“Haaa,” Willow tried again.

“Tell me where you are,” Hotch ordered, but someone who knew him well would be able to hear the anguished pleading beneath the cool exterior.

“Mmmmmm,” Willow replied, trying to tell Hotch to contact his mother. _I can’t. I can’t let her see what I’ve become._

“Are you gagged?” Hotch asked, “Grunt twice for yes.”

Willow glanced aside at Freddy and they shared a moment of amusement. Willow spent ages in various types of gags, usually when he inadvertently gave Freddy a headache with his babbling. This time, however, it was emotion stopping up Willow’s mouth.

“Spencer,” Hotch tried again, “We never stopped looking. None of us.”

“I…” Willow whispered, smiling fondly. That was so sweet. So very Hotchner.

“You?” Hotch prompted after a moment.

Willow hit mute, “He’s probably tracked us by now.”

“Not a problem,” Freddy shrugged.

“Do you want me to use a different name?” Aaron was saying, “I know some of what happened to you. I know you may be identifying as female now. If you give me a new name I’ll happily use it.”

Freddy nodded, so Willow answered.

“W-willow,” Willow replied, still choking on his feelings. Hotch sounded so protective, but Willow knew he was stalling for time.

“Willow?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s a lovely name, and it suits you. Willow Reid?”

Willow glanced at Freddy but he snorted in amusement so Willow didn’t answer.

“Can you tell me where you are, Willow?” Hotch asked, his voice becoming softer and more comforting.

Freddy’s answer was concise on that point, “No.”

“Are you being watched?”

Freddy shrugged in disinterest, “Yes.”

“Is he there with you?”

Another shrug, “Yes.”

“Can you give me some kind of… clue? We found your writing on the walls and floor of the house you were kept in. We couldn’t decipher it. Is it important to now?”

Freddy’s eyes widened in alarm and he shook his head hard, “No.”

“Okay, that helps. You’re helping us find you already.”

“They’re _never_ going to find you,” Freddy hissed.

“No,” Willow replied to Hotch.

“No?” Hotch asked in surprise.

Freddy’s stomach growled and he made a hanging-up motion.

“I have to make dinner now. Goodbye,” Willow replied softly.

“Wait! R-Willow!”

“You did good,” Freddy said softly, “I’m proud of you.”

“Your happiness is my reason for living,” Willow recited softly.

“So… Agent Aaron Hotchner. You love him.”

Willow winced. He was constantly amazed by how perceptive Freddy was, but in this instance he had to admit that he hadn’t hidden his emotions very well at all.

“Freddy, you know I’m devoted to you and…”

“You don’t have to justify it,” Freddy shook his head, “I know you had a life before me. Now you get to face that life and end it.”

“What do you want me to do?” Willow asked, trying to push back the tears and failing.

“This man who you are so drawn to… seduce him. Or rape him. Whichever suits you. Then you will lure him to me. In that way we will end your closeted past and you will join me once again. We will be _unstoppable_ , Willow. You and I against the _world_.”

“That’s it? Go out and experience sex on my terms and then bring you a new wife?”

“Not a new wife,” Freddy smiled, “You’ll be my only wife. We’ll kill Aaron Hotchner together, I’ll take off that chastity belt, and then you and I will enjoy all the world has to offer us. Come, darling. I want you to draw for me.”


	10. Chapter 10

“Then he killed one of my sister wives at the house… I helped… I held her down… He drew blood from all of us. He’d done that before so we weren’t surprised. It was for when we needed a transfusion. He worked in the basement for a while, but he left the body for me to take out. Then he left with his other wife. After that I started hallucinating even more and I decided I needed someone to help me focus, so I went to the store. I found a man there who found me attractive and I got him to let me in his car. He was going to drive me home. I drugged him when we got into the driveway and dragged him into the house once it got dark. I had him help me with things around the house, but he was weak. Submissive. Not Dominant like I wanted. The next day I called you and asked you to meet me.”

The room fell silent and Reid smiled up at Hotch in longing, “Did I do what you wanted, Aaron? Are you happy with me?”

Hotch fought down the waves of fear, sickness, and heartbreak that threatened to overwhelm him. Instead he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Reid’s lips.

“Yeah, sweetheart. You did what I wanted. I’m going to uncuff you now…”

“Mm, no. I want-“

“Not now,” Hotch cut him off.

Reid blinked a few times and pulled back, his eyes wide and hurt. Hotchner didn’t give him the comfort he usually did. His eyes showed that he felt… betrayed?

“Aaron?” Reid asked as the cuffs came off, “Aaron, what did I say? Aaron?”

Hotchner stood up and headed out of the room, rushing for the exit as Reid once had over a year ago. He needed _air_. He needed to get Reid out of his head for just a few minutes so that he could _think_. The last several months of his life had been a _lie_. Or had they been? Reid had told him honestly that he’d loved Freddy. That he’d been deep into the life the man had forced him to live. He’d called Hotch on a whim, but he’d also had feelings for him long before his abduction. He’d not lied about that, had he?

“Aaron?” Reid’s voice cracked on his name, “Aaron, please talk to me. What’s going on? What could be worse than me helping rape and kill people? You weren’t looking at me like this before.”

Hotch turned to face him and stared at a broken and devastated young man in a soft, blue, cotton house dress and dark blue sweatershirt. He looked the definition of innocence and Hotch’s heart ached.

“I love you, Spencer,” Hotch told him.

“I love you, too,” Reid replied, putting out his hand.

Hotch stepped forward and took Reid’s hand, pulling it to his mouth to kiss the palm, “We’re going to get through this.”

“What did I say?” Reid pleaded, “What did I _do?_ ”

“It doesn’t matter,” Hotch replied, “It won’t help us find him, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Yeah it does,” Reid replied, “You’re shaking.”

“Come here and hold me a bit,” Hotch replied, smiling at him comfortingly despite the fact Hotch was the one who really needed comfort.

Reid came willingly and Hotch just held him tightly for a moment, the young man’s head cradled on his shoulder. When they grudgingly separated Hotch had managed to get ahold of his emotions and he smiled down at Reid fondly.

“Let’s get in touch with Morgan and Prentiss. I’d like to compare the profile they’re working to see if we’re looking at the same case.”

“You think they might be related now?”

“I think O’Malley would do anything to get me in this area, and that means stage a kidnapping in the area of his graveyard so we’d stumble on it. I’m just not sure what that means for the victim.”

“She’d be dead,” Reid replied, “He wasn’t messing around by the time I left. No witnesses.”

“All the more reason to confirm or deny a connection.”

XXX

As it turned out Morgan and Prentiss were in the middle of a crime scene when they contacted them. The woman’s body had been found but she hadn’t been sexually assaulted, just murdered and dumped. There was a knife embedded in her rib cage and it had Alfred O’Malley’s prints on it. They now had confirmation of his involvement and Morgan and Prentiss were on their way over. Rossi separated himself from Reid and Hotch, presumably in order to bring them up to speed. Hotch watched him pace through the window of an office, relating the details of Reid’s reveal to them, and hoped that the information wouldn’t destroy the team. It had seemed so empty without Reid, he didn’t want to go back to that.

“He didn’t follow his usual pattern,” Reid frowned, “I never could get him to deviate, even when I asked him to.”

“It’s not surprising,” Hotch replied, “He was in a hurry to get back to here. He just wanted to draw us out.”

“You seem certain of that,” Reid replied.

“I am.”

“You said nothing I shared would help us find him.”

“It won’t.”

“He’s coming to us, isn’t he?” Reid asked, his face calm while fear warred behind his eyes.

Hotch studied his lover a moment, “Yes.”

XXX

“So now what?” Morgan asked, once they’d all been reunited and were standing staring at their board. It was daunting to see Reid’s face up on that wall.

“Now we keep searching,” Hotch replied steadily, “And keep an eye out for O’Malley. He’s going to confront us, he’s going to specifically target me. This is going to go down, but it’s got to go down on our terms.”

“So what do we do, set you up?” Rossi asked, “Dangle you like bait?”

“Wait, why is he going after Hotch?” Reid asked.

No one replied.

“Oh, right,” Reid sighed and rolled his eyes, “Because keeping information from the resident genius, profiler, and _partner of the killer_ is going to _help_ catch the bad guy.”

“You told us-“ Rossi started.

“Dave,” Hotch cut him off.

“He’s right, Aaron,” Rossi insisted, “This isn’t helping anyone. You told us that O’Malley was jealous of Hotch. He knew you’d had a crush on him and intended on using you to flush him out so he could have you entirely to himself- body and mind. He let you go knowing you’d go straight to Hotch, but you were so distraught that you did exactly what he wanted and just blocked it out.”

Reid shook his head in frustration, “I was afraid it was something like that. Aaron, I’m _sorry.”_

“It’s fine,” Hotch replied, giving Reid’s shoulder a squeeze, “None of this is your fault. You’re the victim here, even if we’re trying not to treat you like one. Let’s focus on getting his attention and getting him reacting to _us_ instead of us reacting to him.”

They discussed their plans for a while and the idea of Hotch and Reid going out on a date was offered up by Prentiss.

“The two of you could make a show of sneaking out of the hotel, going to dinner, walking in a park. He’d be all over it.”

“I’m not so sure,” Reid frowned, “He’d probably become pretty suspicious. I mean so far we’ve all stuck together.”

“Ohhh,” Morgan grinned and laughed, “Oh, no. See. You guys are a young couple!”

“Yes, and?” Hotch asked, raising an eyebrow.

“So Hotch, you’ve already gone to some pretty crazy lengths with Reid. What if we appeared to be smothering you two? Watching your every step? Not giving you any time alone through our good intentions of protecting you?”

A smile curved across Reid’s lips as Hotch’s eyes narrowed and his lips set. His hand on Reid’s shoulder clenched tightly, but Reid was so used to pain he barely responded.

“Look at you,” Reid snickered, “You’re already chaffing.”

“Any man would drag this _fine_ piece of ass off for a little tête-à-tête in a corner,” Morgan smirked while Reid blushed prettily.

“We’d have to time it,” Hotch replied, “For when we _know_ he’s watching.”

“I can tell you when he’s around,” Reid replied.

The room fell uncomfortably silent and Reid sighed.

“I can tell when he’s not real now,” Reid insisted, “I really can. I know the way he hides and watches people, I’ve seen him do it for nearly a year.”

“We need a press release,” JJ announced, dragging the attention to her, “We need to declare the murder solved and pin it on someone else. Have Garcia create a fictional suspect for us. Then we need to either blame the graveyard on him as if Reid lied to us or-“

“He’d see right threw that,” Reid insisted, shaking his head, “We could declare it a cold case. Make it seem like we ran out of leads, but even that he’d be suspicious of. Especially if we stay in the area.”

“So we have to go home to do this?” Hotch frowned.

“Jack,” Reid stated, realizing Hotch’s concerns, “He’d be in danger… unless! Oh!”

“Yeah?” JJ asked, eyes lighting up as Reid perked and  jumped up.

“You said Hotch has gone to extremes,” Reid pointed to Morgan, “We’re worried about Jack. His sitter’s left him alone before prompting us to be concerned for him when we’re away. So what if we fake the ending for the case in a _completely_ different way? Let’s have the team called back because Hotch _lost custody of Jack_.”

Hotch turned a bit green but the team was all over it, discussing leaking a personal titbit to the media and having Strauss make some rather intense and nasty statements to the media. Strauss gave Hotch a worried glance but agreed with their idea.

“Then when he follows us to Virginia we make as how of watching out for Hotch,” Prentiss summed up, “And once a day these two sneak off until he approaches them. What he won’t know is that we’ll _know_ they’re sneaking off.”

“How will we know that exactly?” Hotch asked, raising an eyebrow, “To make it realistic Reid and I might really _not_ have much time alone together, and we’ll need to make a show of making out in semi-public places.”

Reid giggled and Hotch nudged his shoulder, giving him a scolding glance.

“I was figuring we stick a wire on you guys 24/7 but, you know, young love!” Morgan teased.

“You know, you might actually have to go without for a few days,” JJ pointed out, “I mean, it’s not like you haven’t done it before, Hotch.”

“Oh gods,” Hotch groaned, “When Jack was born. I thought my life had ended.”

JJ and Hotch shared a laugh and then the team finalized their plan and set it in motion. They would head back to Virginia in the morning following a media explosion of bad press that they could hopefully dispel when the time came. Hotch would speak to Jack during the night to explain to him that they were going to pretend in order to protect him.

With Jack’s mind still recalling Foyet it was a damaging situation, but he knew he was doing the right thing. Until O’Malley was gone it wasn’t safe for him to even be in the same room with Jack. While O’Malley might not be interested in children in general, his obsession with Reid would mean he’d do anything to get to Hotch and that might mean using Jack as leverage. Now he’d be safe. A friend of his who was a cop was taking Jack in, she and her husband posing as his foster parents. The local authorities were aware of the ruse and told to make no comment so that there weren’t cross stories. In the end Hotch was left simply hoping that the man tried something immediately.


	11. Chapter 11

They had decided that a car being placed on their apartment wasn’t going to be enough, so they were going to split shifts with at least one person staying with them at all times. In addition, every day after work they’d put themselves on display for Freddy.

The first time was awkward. They left the BAU after a full day of press nonsense and walked to Hotch’s car. Rossi chatted with them about meaningless things for a while as Hotch slid his arm around Reid’s waist and held him tightly to him. He was pretending to try to hint to Rossi that they wanted to go, but Rossi was pretending not to take the hint. Finally the man left and Hotch and Reid slipped into the car. Since having sex in the car wasn’t unusual for them they’d decided to start with this. They weren’t wired yet. Instead Rossi was making a show of leaving while Morgan, Prentiss, and JJ slipped back in and watched from three different areas. They were watching the entrances and exits while one covered the vehicle itself. Since they weren’t being recorded and sex might not be possible for a while Reid and Hotch had secretly decided they weren’t going to be acting. They got into the car, turned on the radio, and leaned in to kiss each other hungrily, each moving the others clothes aside.

Hotch wrapped his hand around Reid’s hard, hot length and revelled in the heated moan he felt vibrate against his lips. His knuckles brushed against lace with every stroke while Reid fisted his cock with efficiency. He could feel the younger man’s nervousness, but he was also so eager for touch that he easily pushed it aside. Hotch fucked his mouth with his tongue while gripping his hair with his free hand, rendering the man incapacitated with pleasure. Reid’s hand faltered on Hotch’s cock but while he was throbbing with need he wasn’t about to let up on Reid in order to gain his own pleasure. He pushed his ardour aside and focused on bringing Reid to a fast and hard climax. The man was gasping against his mouth, whimpering and mewling pitifully. It drove Hotch wild to see him fall apart with pleasure and would make his own release all the more sweet.

Reid gasped and Hotch pulled back to watch the man shake, mouth fallen open and eyes rolled back in his head as he came hard across his cotton blouse. Hotch moaned at the sight and fisted himself hard, grabbing a tissue to avoid them making more of a mess than they already had. In the process of reaching for the tissues he looked out the front window and swore in horror. Prentiss was outside in the midst of a skirmish with O’Malley. Hotch shoved himself into his trousers, did up the button, and flew out of the car with his gun held out.

“O’Malley! Hands where I can see them!”

The man fighting with Prentiss gave her one last kick to the ribs and took off running. Hotch was after him, but his gait was significantly slowed by his erection. He passed Morgan lying on the ground and dove down to check for a pulse as the figure vanished into a stairwell. Morgan groaned and rolled over, staring up at Hotch.

“What happened?” Morgan groaned.

“O’Malley got the drop on us,” Hotch replied, angry with himself.

“It wasn’t Freddy,” Reid called from where he was helping Prentiss to her feet. He was shirtless, standing only in his bra and skirt. His shoes had been abandoned.

“What?” Hotch asked.

“It was John Alphonzo,” Prentiss gasped, “How the hell did he get in here?”

“We theorized ways for Freddy to do it,” Reid reminded her, “It’s not shocking that someone else figured it out. He was pretty pissed at you, what was that about?”

“His trial is in…” Prentiss panted, “Three days. He’s out on house arrest with an ankle... Morgan and I were the ones who made the arrest.”

“Morgan’s hurt,” Hotch stated, “I’m going to take him to the hospital. Do you need to go too?”

“I’m okay,” Prentiss replied, “He only got in one good hit. I got in _several_. I’ll stay with Reid.”

“Thanks, but no. He doesn’t leave my sight until this is resolved. Get them on Alphonzo. Where’s JJ?”

“I’m here,” JJ called, walking up to them with a handcuffed and bleeding man in tow, “I got him. He was on the way out but I got the jump on him.”

“Well this was a colossal failure,” Morgan groaned, pushing himself to his feet.

“Don’t move,” Hotch snapped, “You might be concussed. Spencer, let’s get him out of here. Pull the car around.”

“On it.”

“And put a shirt on!”

Hotch hurried over to Morgan and pulled his arm over his shoulders, helping to hold him up. Reid pulled the car around and Hotch got Morgan into the back seat and slipped into the passenger side. Hotch thought Morgan looked okay, but it was better safe than sorry with the lump he had on his head.

XXX

Hotch and Reid slipped into bed, pressing close and nuzzling eagerly. It had been a long, long day and they were exhausted, but they also hadn’t had a moment of privacy. Hotch hadn’t gotten off with Reid last time they’d fooled around and he was aching for it. Just as they were starting to get hot and heavy and Hotch had just rolled on top of him Rossi stepped up to their open door.

“Keep your pants on,” Rossi whispered.

“What the hell, David?!” Hotch snapped.

“Someone’s trying to pick the lock.”

“Your ex-husband is the biggest cock block in the _world_ ,” Hotch snarled.

They headed out, armed and ready for trouble, but the bastard vanished again. An hour later they were too tired after searching for him to do anything, so they curled up and went to sleep.

XXX

Reid and Hotch slipped into the men’s room together, Reid having donned men’s clothes so he wouldn’t be required to use the ladies room. It was the first time Hotch had seen him dressed as a man since before he had been abducted and Hotch’s fears that he wouldn’t find him as attractive were right out the window. One look at Reid in tight jeans, a dress shirt, and a leather jacket and Hotch was aching for him.

“Next time we should do the kinds of clothes I _normally_ wear.”

“We’d have never gotten into the club,” Hotch chuckled, before giving Reid an appraising look, “But I’d _love_ to snap your suspenders over your nipples.”

“Mm, tease,” Reid purred, tugging Hotch into the stall, “I want your hands on me _now_.”

“Spence,” Hotch panted, pinning him to the wall hungrily and leaning in to whisper into his ear so no one cold overhear them, “You know we can’t. Last time someone got hurt.”

“Aaron, please,” Reid panted, arching against him and grasping at his shoulders, “It’s been a _week_.”

“You’re a grown man, you can take it,” Hotch growled loudly, figuring that it was something he’d say in the heat of the moment anyway.

“Aaron, please,” Reid pleaded, “It _hurts_.”

“Shut up and hold still,” Hotch growled, rubbing his hips against Reid’s hungrily.

“Hey!” Someone shouted, banging on the door, “The fuck is wrong with you?! I’ll get a bouncer!”

“Okay!” Hotch snapped, pulling away irritably, “We’re stopping!”

Hotch expected a groan of frustration from Reid, but he was completely silent. Then Hotch looked at his face and saw that he was pale, shaking, his eyes wide as saucers and pupils dilated in fear.

Hotch swore, and bolted from the toilet, running out into the crowd. He caught a glimpse of Alfred O’Malley in the crowd and pulled out his gun, pointing it up to avoid the innocent bystanders.

“FREEZE! FBI!” Hotch roared.

People screamed and ducked down, the music continued to blare unhelpfully, and Hotch jumped people and shoved by in an attempt to get to O’Malley. Morgan was on his way over, eyes narrowed threateningly. JJ was crossing the floor from the other direction with her husband hot on her heels. It looked like he was _theirs_. There was no way out. Then the man they were persuing turned and gave them a terrified look, his wig falling halfway off his face.

 _A lookalike_ , Hotch thought, and then saw the outline of hormone-induced breasts beneath the shirt, _Another wife!_

Hotch swore under his breath as Morgan read the terrified woman her rights and took her into custody, where she would likely be placed right into a proper mental health care facility. At least this one didn’t seem as brainwashed as the others, eagerly surrendering a voice recorder that had been used to make Reid think O’Malley was on the other side of the door.

“I’m sorry,” She choked as they placed her in Will’s car, “It was the only way I’d see my children again.”

“We’ll get you the help you need,” Reid reassured, then tugged Hotch away as he fumed helplessly, “Hey. We’ll catch him.”

“You froze,” Hotch growled, pulling Reid close for a moment, “You looked terrified.”

“I won’t freeze again,” Reid promised, “I’m sorry.”

“I’m the one who’s sorry,” Hotch replied, “I should never have let you get into this situation in the first place.”

“Aaron, don’t blame yourself,” Reid pleaded, “We’ve been over this. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Guys…” JJ called out, “You need to see this.”

Hotch pulled away and then tugged Reid over to their car where a photo album was sitting. Hotch paused, eying it carefully, and was about to tell JJ to get an evidence bag when Reid let out a strangle cry and snatched it up.

“Reid!” Morgan snapped, “The hell do you think you’re doing?”

“It’s mine!” Reid shouted at him, then bolted into the backseat of their car and locked the doors, hugging the album tightly to his chest.

“Reid, that’s _evidence_ ,” Morgan knocked on the window, “Hotch, give me the keys.”

Hotch sighed and rubbed his eyes, “Get Strauss on the line. I’ll cuff him and bring him in. He’ll let me do it.”


	12. Chapter 12

“I have a deal,” Reid insisted, “You can’t arrest me for anything that has to do with Freddy’s influence.”

Reid was turning the pages on the photo album while sitting calmly in their interrogation room. Hotch sat by his side with his lawyer while Morgan and JJ sat across from him with Cordon.

“Are you saying you’re still under his influence?” Strauss asked carefully.

“Don’t answer that,” Reid’s lawyer, Hotch’s friend James Perkins, insisted. Reid remained silent, still turning pages and staring down at the images. Hotch couldn’t bring himself to look.

“We’re trying to keep this in house,” Strauss said softly, going for a comforting tone, “But the fact of the matter is that you _are_ interfering with an investigation.”

“This is _mine_ ,” Reid stated firmly.

“Dr. Reid, it’s evidence,” Cordon stated firmly, “And I’m seriously questioning your motives at this point.”

Reid looked up at him miserably, “It’s my _wedding_ album. If you want to log it as evidence you can, but I want to look through it again first. Something might trigger a memory again. It could be helpful.”

“He has a point,” Hotch insisted, “Morgan was able to get the address by asking Reid if he remembered reading it somewhere. This could help.”

Reid continued to turn the pages in silence, and then let out a soft huff of laughter. Hotch glanced down unintentionally to see Reid in a very chaste off-white lace gown with cake all over his face. He was smiling at Alfred O’Malley as if the stars came out of his ass. Hotch didn’t remember leaving the room, but a moment later he was in his office slamming his hand down on his desk. Strauss was entering with a worried look on her face.

“Aaron,” She said softly, “Perhaps it’s time to have him placed in-“

“He doesn’t leave my side,” Hotch stated angrily, his breath far to heavy for someone with such a decisive tone.

“He’s clearly unstable.”

“It’s not uncommon for victims of long-term captivity to have _good_ memories as well as bad. Especially the ones that are mentally manipulated like Reid was.”

“Except we don’t know how deep the manipulation went. He admitted to planning out your abduction and murder!”

“He was playing along.”

“So you and his lawyer insist, but I’m not even sure he knows what you’re arguing out. He’s out of touch with reality, Aaron.”

“Erin, I love him. Completely and without reservation.”

“I don’t want you to pay for loving someone, Aaron. Please reconsider. He needs to be hospitalized. He’s not capable of dealing with this investigation. It doesn’t mean he can’t be a member of the team again, but until this is resolved he’s a walking mental breakdown time bomb!”

“I’ll catch him when he falls,” Hotch replied.

“Who will catch _you_?” Strauss asked, her voice distressed.

Hotch straightened up, “I know this looks bad. I know it seems like we’re both spiralling out of control, but I swear to you _I’ve got this_.”

“I’m beginning to regret ever letting him wriggle his way out of jail time the first go around,” Strauss replied, her eyes lined with worry, “Don’t make me regret the second time too.”

“I won’t,” Hotch promised.

Then he walked out into the bullpen to find a man standing there with a machine gun in one hand and a weird looking stuffed rabbit in the other.

“Happy Easter motherfuckers,” Alfred O’Malley stated coldly, “Get down on the floor or eat lead. Your choice.”

Hotch and Strauss put their hands on the tops of their heads and slowly dropped to their knees. O’Malley was wearing a security uniform and had a badge pinned to his chest.

“Remove, unload, and toss down your weapons, starting with you, princess.”

Hotch and Strauss both paused, glancing at each other.

“Which of us is princess?” Strauss asked.

“You are,” O’Malley insisted.

“Just checking,” Strauss replied, “Considering your history with men I’d wondered.”

“I haven’t got a history with men,” He snapped, “I have a history with _women_. You lack progress. Where’s Willow?”

“Interrogation room,” Hotch stated, “Where you knew he’d be after putting his wedding album on the car.”

“I had to make sure he wasn’t around if you opened fire,” O’Malley replied, “Now your gun comes off, cowboy.”

Hotch removed his gun, took out the clip, and dropped it to the floor in front of him.

“Slide them both over.”

Hotch obeyed, letting them drop down between the railings of the second level of their office to the floor below.

“Good boy. Now go get my wife.”

Hotch didn’t move, eyes narrowing, “He’s not your wife.”

“Go. Get. My. Wife.”

“He’s not your wife.”

“The album he’s lovingly paging through right now begs to differ, or are you really not even the _least_ bit curious about how he’s going to react to me being here?”

“Honestly?” Hotch replied, “I’m more curious about the giant stuffed rabbit with tribal tattoos.”

“What this? Don’t you even know him? Willow loves this character. It’s E. Aster Bunnymund from _Rise of the Guardians_. You call yourself his lover? Moron. Go fetch him. _Now_. Before I pick off your lovely assistant there.”

“I’m his boss,” Strauss replied.

“Sure you are, sweet tart. I’m losing my patience, cowboy.”

Hotch stood slowly, hands still on top of his head, and walked down the ramp, around the offices, and slowly stepped to the side of the door so his hands would remain visible when he opened the door. He didn’t want to cost Erin her life or cause the man to open fire into the room Reid was in. He opened it and called out softly.

“Spencer, you have a visitor. Come out _slowly_.”

Reid stood up quickly and strode into the room with a purposeful sway of hips, eyes narrowed angrily.

“Damn it to hell, Freddy!” Reid shouted at him.


	13. Chapter 13

[Reid’s Wedding Dress](http://www.merleonline.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/c/h/charming_a-line_princess_square_court_satin_lace_modest_wedding_dresses.jpg)

“Oh no,” Strauss groaned, “This is precisely what I was afraid of. He’s been using us this whole time!”

“No,” Hotch insisted, “No, he hasn’t. He can’t have-“

“Cool it, Willow,” O’Malley sighed, “I just came to give you a present.”

“No,” Reid snapped angrily, “This is unacceptable. I told you I wanted you _out_ of my head! So get out!”

“Spencer,” Hotch started carefully, longing to reach out and clutch him close but not willing to risk the gunman.

Reid crossed the room quickly, standing straight in front of O’Malley with hands on cocked hips to sass the hell out of him. He stared down at him with narrowed eyes and prodded his shoulder with one finger.

“I’m the real one, sweetheart,” O’Malley snarled, “You either calm the fuck down or I’ll punish you.”

“Fantastic,” Reid huffed, narrowing his eyes as if he could make him evaporate into thin air, “A full mental breakdown? From a fucking _photo album_? This is just fantastic. Aaron, _do something_! You made it stop last time!”

“Spencer, he’s _real_ ,” Hotch replied, his heart breaking, “Just do what he says and let us handle this.”

“Didn’t you always tell me the real one would tell you he was fake?” O’Malley snapped, “I’m _real_ , Willow. I’m fucking real and you better get a grip before I change the plans.”

Reid took a step back, a look of horror on his face. Then his entire disposition changed in an instant, his eyes dropping and his posture turning from sassy to submissive in a heartbeat. Gone was the Spencer that Hotch knew every inch of, inside and out. Willow stood before them, from head to tow the submissive slave with a full helping of Stockholm. He wrung his hands anxiously for a moment and then sunk to his knees.

“Your happiness is my reason for living,” Willow said softly, voice intentionally higher and soft.

“You’re fucking right it is,” O’Malley stated.

“I failed you,” Willow said softly, “I never had sex with a woman like you ordered. I thought I had more time.”

“I have that covered,” O’Malley stated, “Get changed. I want you dressed _properly_. Then I want you going downstairs to the car- blue Taurus with a pink scarf tied around the antenna- and fetching the present I brought you.”

“Bunnymund isn’t my present?” Willow asked softly.

“Sure he is,” O’Malley tossed it to the floor, “Here.”

Willow gathered the large stuffed toy close, revealing the rip in the side that was where O’Malley had hidden the gun on his way in. How he’d avoided it being x-rayed was unknown, but Hotch worried there was a body in the building that would answer that question. Willow slowly stood up, gave him a little bow, and began to strip off his clothes right where he stood. O’Malley held up a hand to stop him. Hotch watched hopefully for an opening, but O’Malley kept an eye on Willow while scanning the room.

“Cowboy. Go fetch the rest of your staff. Do it without leaving my eyesight or I blow princess’ head off. I want them to see this.”

Hotch fetched the rest of his team and two aids that were working that night. He’d tried to leave the aids behind, hoping they could send for help, but Willow had ratted them out with a softly whispered word and Hotch had been sent back to fetch them. One of them shook his head slowly as he knelt down beside Strauss. He hadn’t gotten word out. Hotch assumed that the bastard was jamming their cell signals; as Garcia and Reid had both pointed out he was deviously clever.

“Okay, now,” O’Malley snapped.

Willow began to strip, revealing a sports bra beneath his dress shirt and a lavender lacy pair of boyshort undies. When those came off Hotch frowned at the sight of a red satin ribbon tied around his genitals. That wasn’t Reid’s usual style. It wasn’t even something he was _comfortable_ with.

“Is this for _him_?” O’Malley asked, gripping Willow’s genitals hard enough to make him yelp in pain.

“He wouldn’t let me wear a cage,” Willow pleaded, “I felt naked. This was the closest I could get without drawing suspicion. I _told_ him it was for him, but it was for you. I swear.”

“Convince me,” O’Malley snarled, and pointed to the stuffed toy.

Willow knelt down and opened his mouth and Hotch’s lunch threatened to make an appearance.

“Not like that. Tie them up with the ties in Bunnymund. Then put on the cage that’s in there.”

Willow obeyed, quickly collecting the stuffed toy and hurrying over to them where he pulled out a bunch of zip ties. He fastened them on both feet and wrists, moving efficiently through their ranks until he had them all tightly bound.

“Spencer,” Hotch whispered out of the corner of his mouth as he came closer.

“No talking!” Willow snapped, and cuffed him upside the head.

Willow headed for O’Malley with sashaying hips and the rabbit clutched in his arms before dropping to the floor on his back and slowly sliding what looked like a thick, curved spring out of the deflated toy’s head. He popped first one testicle through the widest ring and then the other before sliding the spring-like part over his cock. The sheath attached to the ring via a peg that had a hole in it. To this Willow attached a padlock with a very final-sounding click.

“That’s my boy,” O’Malley purred, “Go on, then. Downstairs. Blue Taurus with a bow on the antenna.”

When Willow returned he was dressed in a blue and white Alice in Wonderland costume with a peasant top and a short, ruffled bottom. He had thigh-highs over his legs with hearts at the top, judiciously held up with a garter belt. His feet were in high-heeled platform shoes and the height was surreal from a young man who typically only wore kitten heels. On a leash he led someone dressed as the Cheshire cat, their head covered by the mascot-styled mask and their hands bound in front of them.

“Ah, there’s my beautiful wife,” O’Malley purred, reaching out to tug on one of Willow’s curls, “Ready to go into the rabbit hole, my dear?”

“What happened to everyone?” Willow pouted, “There was no one to hold the door for me all the way up here.”

“Sorry about that, sweetness,” Freddy chuckled, taking the leash as Willow headed over to Hotch, “I pulled a little trick and… well, let’s just say that everyone thinks there’s been an anthrax poisoning on this floor. They’re all outside being de-contaminated and injected with shots! Only the entrance to the garage is unguarded, and that’s curtesy of a bit of sedative from yours truly. Your cute little case was the inspiration. Hope you liked it.”

“It’s inspired!” Willow cooed, “They’ll head here last, only after securing the rest of the building and shutting off the air ducts. We’ll be expected to be down in decontamination, so most of them will go there to help us while only a few investigators come here. We’ll have no trouble harnessing the situation, and then using their suits to slip out!”

Willow walked over to Freddy and threw his arms around his neck, eyes still carefully diverted as he leaned in for an intense kiss. Rage boiled in Hotch’s gut as he saw their tongues sliding back and forth. When they separated, Willow spoke again.

“Can I open my present now?”

“Of course,” Freddy replied, “I want your former boyfriend to see.”

Willow hurried over and pulled the head off of the Cheshire cat with a happy cheer.

“Maeve! Oh, Freddy! You always know what I want the most!”

Willow ran back, throwing his arms around Freddy and nearly knocking him aside with the force of his hug.

“Hey! Watch it!” Alfred snapped, “I got a fuckin’ gun here!”

“Sorry, darling,” Willow pulled back, tucking his hair behind his ear, “I got excited.”

“You want to do her, sweetheart?”

“Oh, yes,” Willow groaned, “More than anything.”

“You remember what I told you before?”

Willow struggled a moment, a frown on his face, “You… you don’t want to see it?”

“Exactly. When we’re off to raping together the way we’re meant to I can handle it, but you getting your virgin off with someone? Not my thing. So you either take her off to seduce her alone, or we do this together in the nasty way _I_ prefer and you give up your chance at a normal sexual experience. Your choice, sweetie.”

Willow paused, nibbling on his bottom lip with eyebrows furrowed anxiously.

“I’m… I’m not sure, Freddy. What do you want me to do? Your happiness is my reason for living.”

“Damn right it is,” O’Malley scoffed, “Except this time I have to respect you. If we’re to be equals I need you to make this call and I’ll do whatever you decide.”

Willow fussed a moment, reaching out to pet Maeve’s hair. Her eyes were wet with tears and she was shaking where she stood. She was staring at him with hope and such trust that it nearly broke Hotch’s heart. She loved him, he realized. Maeve loved Reid, and judging by the way Willow was stroking her hair and cheek…

 _I’ve been such a fool_.

“Have you had her yet?” Willow asked softly.

“Nope,” Alfred stated proudly, “I was saving her for you. You have any idea how hard it is to keep your hands off a toy for over a week?!”

“Yeah,” Willow laughed, “Considering you had my dick locked up for a year… I’d say I do.”

“Aww, come on. I milked you sometimes.”

“That _was_ nice,” Willow admitted with a soft smile, “Well, if you were saving her for me I guess… is alone okay?”

“Sure, sweetheart,” Freddy smiled softly at Willow, walking up and petting his hair tenderly.

“Then the lock? It’s sort of like… like a reverse wedding band, you know? I want to see you take it off me,” Willow asked him, eyes flashing with excitement.

Freddy smiled softly, and sank down on one knee.

“Do you, Willow O’Malley,” Freddy knelt down at his feet and lifted his frilly skirt, “Take me to be your partner in crime? To unlawfully commit filthy crimes of rape, forgery, and occasionally murder, till suicide by cop do we part?”

“I do,” Willow smiled down at him, eyes still shyly kept at lip level, smiling as the key slid into the lock, “And do you, Alfred ‘Freddy’ O’Malley, take me to be your filthy little cockslut, as obedient and violent as you wish me to be, until I blow your head off with this gun?”

“I d- what?” O’Malley looked up at where Willow was holding a gun in his hand and stared in shock as Willow slowly raised it to his forehead.

 

[My Alice Costume](http://partycity1.scene7.com/is/image/PartyCity/339961?wid=475) (not me in it. You gotta join fetlife for that)


	14. Chapter 14

“I took it off the floor while I was tying them up. Stored it in the Bunnymund- I _do_ like it, by the way, even if it is half unstuffed,” Reid smiled softly, “I took it downstairs with me and stored it in Maeve’s little costume here. She passed it back to me while you were busy smiling at my junk. You can drop that cage, by the way. I’ll _never_ be wearing it again.”

The cage clattered to the floor, real fear and confusion in Freddy’s eyes.

“No. I broke you. I _own_ you.”

“On the contrary, you damaged me. I’m on the mend now and I’m taking myself back.”

There was a moment of panic on his face and then a smug smile crossed his face, “No you’re not. This isn’t even real. I’m the _hallucination_ , you moron!”

“I’m a genius, and you’re real. I knew you were real the moment I saw you and have each time you’ve popped up in my periphery for the last several months. It doesn’t even have to do with the meds. I’ve been cheeking half of them since the beginning. I’m beating this.”

“You can’t know for sure,” Freddy licked his lips, “You’ll never be certain.”

“I can, actually. See my darling boyfriend over there takes me _very_ seriously, including my fears. When I first panicked and saw a hallucination of you in his presence he took a chair to him. Ever since then hallucination Freddy has sported a dented skull and contusions all over his face. Now _real_ Freddy is going to have a bullet hole right in the centre of his forehead. I’ll never mix the two of you up again.”

Reid stepped back to avoid splatter all over his person and aimed the gun, but Hotch took that moment to find his voice.

“Spencer, don’t do it. I want him behind bars, not you.”

“I have to do this, Aaron. I need him _dead_.”

“You defeated him. He took off your cage. You’ve conquered your fears. I can’t protect you if you kill him, Spencer. Especially not if you shoot him execution style in front of all of us. Your deal won’t cover that. You’ll go away for _life_.”

Reid sighed and moved towards Hotch, keeping the gun levelled on Freddy the whole time. He dropped down to his knees and inched back against him so he was pressed against his body. Hotch turned his head and nuzzled Reid’s neck just below his ear.

“Come back to me Spencer,” Hotch whispered against his flesh, “It’s you I love. Put Willow away for good. That’s the one you need to defeat now. Look at him. Freddy’s done. He’s a coward who couldn’t face himself so he took it out on others. Don’t become him. End this by ending Willow. Be my sweet little geek again. Please.”

“You _bitch_ ,” Freddy snarled, “Don’t you _dare_ do this to me! You’re _mine!_ Get the fuck away from him!”

“He’s my lover, Freddy,” Reid replied softly, “I’m going home with him. You’re going to jail.”

“The fuck I am!” Freddy raged, staggering to his feet. Reid stood up quickly, steadying the gun with both hands.

“Back on your knees!” Reid ordered, “Hands where I can see them!”

Maeve bolted out of the way, fear in her eyes as Freddy bolted for the discarded machine gun on the floor. Reid froze, his finger on the trigger. At that moment Hotch twisted about, jerking his hands under his body to get them in front of him. He pressed his thumbs together and yanked as hard as he cold. The ties snapped and Hotch was on his feet in seconds, hands flying around Reid’s body. The machine gun came up and Hotch’s fingers settled over Reid’s. They squeezed the trigger together, Hotch re-directing the gun at the last moment.

A blossom of red appeared between Alfred O’Malley’s eyes and he went down, the gun clattering harmlessly to the floor. Reid was hyperventilating as Hotch pulled the gun from his shaking hands and turned him around.

“I’ve got you,” Hotch whispered, pulling him close, “I’ve got you. He’s dead. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

“I knew he’d do that. I didn’t want… I didn’t want him to kill himself. I didn’t want suicide by cop. I wanted to do it. I wanted him to die with dignity.”

“There’s no such death,” Hotch whispered, tightening his grip on him.

“How the _hell_ do I still love him?” Reid sobbed, burying his face against Hotch’s shoulder.

Hotch pressed a kiss to the side of Reid’s head, “Everyone deserves love, Spencer, even the most wicked of people. I guess you’re just that amazing that you can supply it.”

XXX

Hotch turned the pages of the wedding album. Reid was curled up on the couch in Hotch’s office, wrapped up in his jacket, while Strauss ran damage control with JJ at her side. Rossi was pacing the room.

“How long are you going to torture yourself with that?” Rossi asked angrily, “Just burn the thing.”

Reid whimpered but didn’t move from where he lay.

“It’s Spencer’s wedding album. I can’t do that to him. It would be like Spencer burning mine and Haley’s album.”

“It would be _nothing_ like that, because that wasn’t a real wedding! It wasn’t a real marriage! Hell, it wasn’t even a real _romance!”_

“Not to us,” Hotch replied, “But it was Spencer’s reality for an entire year. I won’t just throw that away. Look at this, Dave.”

“No thanks.”

“Really, look at it.”

Rossi sighed and headed over, staring down at the image on the page.

“Reid’s finger prints are all over this. So are Freddy’s. Inside and out,” Hotch stated, “He paged through this book and looked at the images many times. He really loved Reid. He was sick and he deserved what he got, but he loved him.”

Rossi stared down at the image of Reid dancing slowly with a smiling Alfred O’Malley. In the background were a few of his fellow wives. They were all smiling and one of them was dabbing at her eyes, though Hotch rather thought she looked envious. It didn’t look staged. Reid’s hand was on O’Malley’s shoulder and you could see a small, diamond ring on it. They’d found the same ring on each of the transwomen they’d dug up, but Reid’s had a few extra stones on either side of it.

“Okay,” Strauss sighed as she walked in, “I need the outfit Doctor Reid is wearing and the statements I _presume_ you wrote like I’d asked you to. Then you all can go.”

“About time,” Rossi snarled.

“Well, I’m sorry David, but this is just a _bit_ of a clusterfuck! We’ve already bent every rule in the books for Doctor Reid, and now _this!”_

“This,” Hotch stated in a soft but firm voice, “Was not Spencer’s fault. He’s the victim as well as an agent and I’ll ask you to remember that.”

Strauss nodded, “I’m sorry. Both of you. Is there anything I can do?”

“Not really,” Hotch sighed, “I just want to get Spencer home so he can relax finally. He’ll need leave.”

“Leave?” Strauss asked, “He killed his rapist, I thought he’d be elated.”

“He killed his _husband_ ,” Hotch replied, “Under a horrific situation after a year of abuse and far too little time in therapy. He needs leave.”

“I’ll make the excuses,” Strauss stated softly, “Good night, gentlemen.”

Hotch crossed to Reid, picking up the clothing that Reid had been wearing before he’d been sent downstairs to change.

“Come on, sweetheart. Change and let’s go. You’ll feel better when we’re home.”

Reid rolled over, rubbing at his red eyes before sitting up and starting to strip. He’d apparently forgotten modestly. Rossi beat a hasty retreat and Hotch closed the blinds while Reid changed.

“I want a dress. I hate men’s clothes.”

“I know,” Hotch replied, “You can change once we get home. Any requests? Maybe some ice cream or take out?”

“My pink satin nightgown, fluffy bunny slippers, and my cream coloured fluffy robe.”

“That sounds perfect,” Hotch smiled.

They left together with Reid walking close to him, Hotch keeping his hand against the small of Reid’s back. Once they were home he went straight to their room and changed into the clothes he wanted to wear. Then he curled up on the couch and Hotch went to fetch him a cup of chamomile tea.

“I’m dying to see Jack,” Hotch told him, “but I won’t bring him home if you need time alone here.”

“I want him home,” Reid stated softly.

“Okay,” Hotch nodded. He knew the surety in Reid’s voice, “I’ll call them now. They’ll drive him over tonight.”

“Good.”

“Do you want me to put on the television?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

Hotch called and the relief in hearing Jack’s voice was palpable.

“He’ll be here in an hour and a half,” Hotch stated, “Maybe two. They have to pack him up.”

“So we have time to talk?” Reid asked.

“Sure,” Hotch nodded.

“And maybe have sex after that?” Reid asked.

“There’s always time for that,” Hotch replied with a smirk, “What did you want to talk about?”

“This,” Reid replied, picking up the album and walking into the study. Hotch followed him and stared in surprise as Reid placed it on the bookshelf there.

“What about it?” Hotch asked, “I’m fine with it being there.”

“Aaron, I feel like I’ve been pulling you around by your nose since we started out. I threw myself at you… or maybe forced myself on you would be a better term.”

“You know how I feel about that.”

“Yeah, I do. The thing is, there’s something I want to do but I feel like if I say anything that it will be more of me leading you around. Unfortunately, I’m concerned that if I don’t say anything that you never will because of this album.”

Hotch was silent a moment, “What is it you want to say?”

Reid walked up to Hotch and slipped his arms around his neck, “You’ve always, always been the one I wanted. I never want to let you go. Now I want to make new memories with you. I want a book for us, Aaron. I want to call _you_ husband.”

“Okay,” Hotch replied, “Ask me.”

“Will you marry me, Aaron Hotchner?” Reid whispered, pressing their foreheads together.

“It would be my honour.”

_A/N I know a sex scene is completely expected here… but it just doesn’t feel right. So I’m not gonna write it. Though this is the last chapter, it’s not the end of this story, but you’ll have to check the tags on the next one to find out if you want to read it. It will be mostly sex. ;)_

XXX

Doctor Spencer Reid-Hotchner sat on the couch in the room of their three bedroom house and paged through a photo album. It showed himself and a small group of friends and family at his wedding. His dress was big and beautiful and very Disney. His new husband was smiling from ear to ear as if he’d never thought he’d find happiness again. Jack was dressed in a small tux, carrying the rings in one of the pictures but mostly just trying to escape his bowtie in the rest. It was all in Rossi’s back yard, and Reid felt a pang of pain at the many memories they’d shared there. First JJ, and then he and Hotch, Morgan, and finally Garcia had all married in Rossi’s home. It had become a tradition. Even when a new recruit joined up after Rossi retired they made sure to include the older man so that the little punk could marry there someday. He’d never married. The poor young thing had died during a raid.

The front door opened and Reid shoved the album onto a table and rushed for it.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Jack sighed, rolling his eyes and heading for the stairs.

“I’ve been calling for hours!” Reid raged, his voice cracking in frustration, “I put out a BOLO!”

“And when my friends ask me how cool it is to have parents in the FBI, this is what I tell them about,” Jack sighed.

“Your dad’s in the hospital,” Reid blurted, then winced. He’d wanted to tell him gently.

“How bad?” Jack froze halfway up the stairs.

“It’s bad,” Reid choked, his strength crumbling, “It’s really bad, Jack.”

Jack turned and stomped down the steps, teenage angst put aside as he threw his arms around Reid.

“Can we go?”

“Yeah,” Reid sniffled, “But he’s still in surgery. Rossi is there keeping me updated. I came here to wait for you.”

Jack stepped back, “What happened?”

“A raid,” Reid sniffled, pulling his coat out of the closet by the door, “He was wearing his vest, but the gunman fired from a foot away. Blitz attack. Even far off it causes injury, but close up…”

“So, like, what are we talking about here?” Jack asked, taking the keys from Reid’s shaking hands and opening the passenger door for him, “He won’t walk or something?”

Reid sank into the seat and Jack went around to the driver’s side and climbed in. He started the car while Reid took a steadying breath.

“He wasn’t breathing when they arrived,” Reid replied, taking another calming breath, “But they got him back before they loaded him into the ambulance. They told me they thought a lung had ruptured, and that there was spinal damage. The vest was keeping him together so they couldn’t really look at him without a surgeon present. I rode over to the hospital with him but…”

“But I was out and not answering my phone so you came home to wait for me,” Jack replied angrily, “Fuck!”

Jack punched the steering wheel and Reid gently covered his hand with his own where it gripped the wheel so tightly the knuckles were white.

“I was a teenager once too,” Reid replied, “I understand. You want to stretch your legs. You need space but can’t afford to move yet. Your brain is sending you a thousand signals at once. I get it. Just… please let us know where you are every once in a while. I don’t want to lose you, t-”

Reid stopped himself, quickly pulling his hand back to cover his mouth as he sobbed brokenly. He’d had so little time with Aaron. Just eight years. That was nothing. He wanted ten, twenty-five, and maybe even forty-year anniversaries. He wanted to be old and grey and shitting himself by the time they had to decide where they’d scatter Hotch’s ashes.

“I love you, mom,” Jack whispered softly, “I’m not going anywhere, and neither is dad.”

“He died in my arms, Jack. He was _dead_. It happened. He was gone for a minute and twenty seconds before the medics got him to breath again. I haven’t felt this fragile since…”

Reid stopped. They’d never discussed it, but Jack had heard enough partial conversations and certainly had loads of free time on the internet. He likely had an idea of what had happened to Reid before he’d married Hotch. He’d also seen the _other_ photo album and knew that Reid had an ‘imaginary friend’ who was named after his former husband.

“I don’t like seeing you cry,” Jack stated softly, “Dad never lets that happen. Come on, we can do this. We’ll be strong for each other.”

“Okay,” Reid swallowed hard, taking a few steadying breaths and blowing his nose on a napkin from the glove compartment.

“Besides, your mascara will run,” Jack teased.

Reid laughed, shaking his head in amusement, “Too late. I’ve got raccoon eyes for sure.”

They continued on to the hospital in silence until Reid got another text from Rossi.

“Oh gods, he’s out. He’s out of surgery and they said he’ll make it,” Reid breathed, letting out a slightly hysterical laugh.

Jack did an unconscious imitation of his father, simply nodding his head and letting out a low breath. Reid smiled at him tenderly. He might be driving them up a wall lately, but he was still their boy.

They got to the hospital and hurried up to Hotch’s room where he was laid out. Reid slipped his arms around one of Jacks and they both took a moment to just appreciate that Hotch was alive and expected to make it. Then they found chairs and sat down to wait.

XXX

Hotch opened his eyes and quickly shut them again. The world was far too bright and loud.

“Spence?” He tried to whisper, but a wheeze came out instead.

“Hang on, sweetheart,” Reid whispered, “I’m hitting the call button now. You’re in the hospital. You were shot up close during a raid. You’ve sustained a great deal of internal damage. The doctor can explain more.”

“I love you dad,” Jack croaked.

_It must be awful. Jack hasn’t said that to me in two years._

Hotch lay there for a few minutes while the doctor droned and he ached. He was promised pain medication as soon as the doctor finished the exam and then asked a series of obnoxious questions and instructed to raise his right arm and then his left. He obediently told the doctor how many fingers the man was holding up. Then he heard the blankets being moved and that was when he registered that he couldn’t feel his left leg. He didn’t want to look down.

“Aaron, tell me when you feel something,” The doctor instructed.

There was movement, but Hotch was just staring up at the ceiling and waiting. He could feel Reid gripping his hand, so there was that.

“Nothing,” Hotch stated, “My left leg is gone, isn’t it?”

“Not gone, no,” The doctor stated, “Do you feel anything in your left leg?”

“No.”

“What about here?”

“Ow! Wrong leg!”

“That’s your right leg.”

“My _left_ leg is numb!” Hotch snapped.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean correct leg, I meant your _right_ leg. What about here?”

“Still the right leg,” Hotch grumbled.

“I’ve already tested the left leg,” The doctor stated, “You didn’t respond. Here?”

“Yes,” Hotch replied.

“I’m going to ask your wife and son to leave the room, I’d like to check your torso now.”

“We’ll be right in the hall,” Jack stated.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Reid replied, “Go ahead Jack.”

“M’kay,” Jack muttered, and fled the room.

_Teenagers. So tough until something goes wrong, then they’re scared little puppies._

“Ow!” Hotch snapped, as his hip was prodded with the needle. Then the other side, “Yes! That I felt! On the left!”

The doctor reached down and Hotch felt him handling his penis.

“I swear if you poke my dick with that needle you won’t have to be concerned about my ability to walk, because I will develop the ability to hover and strike you down.”

Reid’s head hit his arm where it rested on the side of the bed as the younger man dissolved into hysterical laughter, the sort brought on by too little sleep and too much stress. Hotch let him roll around in the endorphins, but the doctor was soon prodding him again. His stomach had feeling. So did his chest. Then the doctor pulled his clothing shut and the blankets up. Reid got himself together and sat there waiting anxiously for the doctor’s response.

“As I’d suspected from your MRI and X-ray it looks as if you’re suffering from partial paralysis from the impact of the bullet hitting your spine. The good news is that even should no feeling return to your left leg you may be able to learn how to walk through physical therapy.”

“What’s the bad news?” Reid asked.

“Oh, well,” The doctor blinked, “The partial paralysis was the bad news.”

“He died thirty-two hours and sixteen minutes ago. I’d say a numb left leg is a damn good outcome,” Reid replied in that firm way of his. Hotch squeezed his hand and finally let himself turn his head to smile at his ‘wife’.

“Oh gods, you’re beautiful,” Hotch breathed.

Reid smiled at him, “You’re a sight for sore eyes, and my eyes are _very_ sore. I doubt I’m even pretty let alone beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful,” Hotch stated firmly.

“Thank you,” Reid replied, pressing a kiss to his forehead, “I love you and I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t. They’ll retire me after this.”

“Well, yes, but there’s more than one way to lose someone,” Reid worried, “I don’t want you wasting away on me.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Hotch promised, “Go and get Jack?”

“Sure,” Reid promised.

Hotch lay there replaying what little he could remember of the raid in his mind. He had heard something behind him and then the world had gone sparkly, and then quickly blank after that.

“Did we catch him?” Hotch asked as Jack and Reid re-entered the room.

“Morgan and JJ shot him enough times to make a two scale wind instrument,” Reid replied cheerfully.

“You didn’t get a shot in?” Hotch smirked, “I’m hurt!”

“I was watching you die,” Reid replied.

Hotch winced, “Shit. I’m sorry, Spencer.”

“Don’t be,” Reid replied, “You were doing your job. I understand that. I just want you to survive this.”

“Is he going to need a wheelchair?” Jack asked anxiously.

“For a bit,” Hotch replied, “Then they’ll teach me how to walk again. You’ll get to see your old man take his first steps.”

Jack snorted and Reid smiled at the two stoic men in his life. Jack was looking into ROTC and they couldn’t have been more proud. Morgan would be Unit Chief now that Hotch would be stepping down. Reid had earned another doctorate despite being schizophrenic and a crossdresser, two things that held many back in life despite the push to remove stigma. In another lifetime Hotch might have woken up in this hospital bed with these symptoms and deemed his life over, the idea of losing jobs and marathons an absolute disaster. Now he simply held Reid’s hand and thought of ways to overcome it. He could make it with his boys by his side.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZvEXcRE4BU Escaping zip ties

 


End file.
